Chargers' Trey Pipkins shut down Maxx Crosby while filling in for Rashawn Slater

The Los Angeles Chargers suffered one of the biggest possible setbacks when Rashawn Slater went down for the season with an injury. 

That shoved Trey Pipkins back into the starting lineup as a right tackle and gave opposing teams something to attempt to exploit on an every-down basis when lining up against Justin Herbert’s offense. 

But so far? Pipkins has shut down major names like Maxx Crosby. 

During last Monday’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Pipkins only let up two pressures on 21 matchups with Crosby, shutting down one of the league’s best pass-rushers, according to ESPN's Ryan McFadden.

Not bad for Pipkins, who, just this past offseason, seemed like a cut or trade candidate before the Chargers kept him aboard as a valuable backup swing tackle. 

Now, Pipkins is the starter on one edge and Joe Alt the other. It won't always be so great for Pipkins, but it just goes to show that a proper gameplan to help massage the issue might preven the outright disaster some expected after the Slater injury.