Chargers hinted at why trade arrival might not play vs. Steelers

The Los Angeles Chargers never promised that headline trade deadline arrival Trevor Penning would play against the Pittsburgh Steelers in primetime in Week 10. 

In fact, those Chargers showed a lot through their actions during practice leading up to the game by the starting five in front of Justin Herbert with the first-team offense. 

There, Penning wasn’t part of the rotation just yet. 

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Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman had hinted at as much earlier in the week, too.

“The number one thing is he’s got to learn our system,” Roman said, according to The Athletic’s Daniel Popper. “He’s got to know what to do so he can actually function. He’s got to know the snap counts, he’s got to know the silent cadences and all the different variations we might have on that. It’s elaborate. So there’s a lot to learn, a lot to pick up, and that’s step number one, and then we clean technique up as we go.”

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh loves his competitor’s welcome slogan, but things are just a little more nuanced than that with a guy who just arrived via trade all of a few days ago. 

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That said, Chargers fans weren't unreasonable to wonder if Penning might play a role in Sunday’s game. He’s known for, among other things, having some impressive versatility to this point in his career. And Austin Deculus had struggled so much at left tackle with Joe Alt out that it was worth wondering if Penning might not be better right away. 

Alas, barring some sort of big change before kickoff on Sunday night, Penning’s debut won’t happen until a week later, should his acclimation go well.