Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen is likely going to miss the rest of the preseason after suffering an injury during practice this week.
According to ESPN.com, Allen injured his ankle, and although the team isn't considering the injury to be serious, the Chargers wide receiver is likely going to miss the rest of the preseason. The good news for Los Angeles is that it looks like Allen will be available for the team's season opener, which is being played at home on Sept. 8 against the Colts.
Even if Allen was healthy enough to play again this preseason, the Chargers would likely keep him sidelined as a precaution and that's because the injured ankle is the second injury he's suffered this month. According to The Athletic, Allen banged up his knee in early August during a joint practice with the Rams.
Speaking of joint practices, the Chargers held another one with the Saints on Thursday, and this time, Allen didn't participate. Chargers coach Anthony Lynn was actually asked about Allen's absence, but he didn't mention anything about the receiver's ankle. Instead, Lynn simply said the receiver wasn't practicing because he was "sore."
Clearly, Allen's injury is about more than him just being "sore."
The fact that Allen is banged up should be mildly concerning to the Chargers and that's because their star receiver has had some trouble staying healthy. Although he's played in every game over the past two seasons, Allen did miss a total of 22 games due to injury from 2015 to 2016. In 2015, the receiver missed the final few weeks of the season after he lacerated his kidney in a game. In 2016, Allen missed 15 games after tearing his ACL in the Chargers' opener.
The Chargers will definitely be cautious with Allen and that's because he's a huge part of their offense. Allen has caught a total of 199 passes over the past two seasons, which is the sixth-most in the NFL over that span (Only Julio Jones, Adam Thielen, Antonio Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and Michael Thomas have caught more since 2017).
