Greg Roman explains Rashawn Slater's sudden absence from Chargers training camp

One of the odder stories from Los Angeles Chargers training camp so far was the sudden absence of elite offensive tackle Rashawn Slater. 

Just a few days into camp and during what is likely ongoing talks about a massive contract extension, Slater was missing from practice. 

According to The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman told reporters that Slater’s miss on Saturday was a “rest” day. 

While Slater is still around the team and working out, his absence was notable. Were it a few weeks into training camp, it wouldn’t have earned much in the way of attention, but the Chargers only just got done reporting to camp and are a few practices into the process before the first preseason game at the end of the month. 

So far, Slater and those asked about the topic have said there’s nothing negative going on around the Slater contract extension talks, so there’s no overarching cause for concern. It’s fair to wonder if talks have progressed, really. 

But until a Slater contract extension happens, Chargers fans might see a few blips like this blown up as big deals while someone like Trey Pipkins gets reps as a starter on the same line as Joe Alt.