Alt's ankle injury was obviously severe, and now the Chargers have anxiety heading into 2026.
In hindsight, it truly does seem as though the Los Angeles Chargers' season was doomed from the moment they lost star tackle Joe Alt to an ankle injury.
The team had already lost Rashawn Slater to a torn patellar tendon in the preseason. Losing Alt after slotting him into Slater's spot and bringing Trey Pipkins III into the starting offensive line proved to be the death knell for the Los Angeles offense.