The 0-2 Chargers will face the 0-2 Vikings without a key player on each side of the ball.
Running back Austin Ekeler and linebacker Eric Kendricks have both been ruled out for Sunday’s game.
Ekeler has an ankle injury. It kept him out of last week’s lost to the Titans. He played — and gained 117 yards on 16 carries — in the Week 1 loss to the Dolphins. (He also had 47 yards on four catches.)
Kendricks has a hamstring injury. He also played in the first game of the season, but not the second.
For Kendricks, it would have marked a return to the place where he spent the first eight seasons of his career. The Vikings cut Kendricks earlier this year.
Linebacker Joey Bosa is questionable with a hamstring injury. He has two sacks through two 2023 games.
Both teams need to avoid an 0-3 start. The Vikings are probably better equipped to rebound, since they don’t have the Chiefs in their division — and since every team in the NFC North lost last weekend.
