Derwin James Makes Big Promise After Serving Suspension

The Los Angeles Chargers missed one of their defensive playmakers in their Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Chargers star safety Derwin James was suspended for last week’s contest against Kansas City without pay for repeated violations of playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players. The NFL penalized the veteran defensive back for lowering his helmet in Week 3 against Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth.

It was a massive loss for the Chargers’ defense as they were already without star defensive end Joey Bosa. 

Without James starting at free safety, Los Angeles gave some snaps to AJ Finley and rookie cornerback Tarheeb Still, who was making his NFL debut. The Chargers also called up veteran defender Tony Jefferson from the practice squad.

James met with reporters on Wednesday and called his suspension “disappointing,” per Daniel Popper of The Athletic. 

The veteran defensive back was asked if he plans on doing anything differently with his tackling, and James responded, “Just get lower.” James also said, “I’m not going to keep paying 700, $800,000.”

The Chargers hope James sticks to his word and tackles a bit lower because they cannot afford to lose him to another suspension. Los Angeles is on a bye this week but will go on the road for Week 6 to play the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos aren’t the most explosive offensive team in the NFL, but the Chargers expect James to make an impact and force rookie quarterback Bo Nix into a mistake.

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