The Los Angeles Chargers and the rest of the league find themselves in a crucial time of year that is filled with roster decisions, ones that could be crucial for years to come. Usually, these decisions are about players who have little NFL experience or is past their time as once-NFL starter.
However, in this final preseason game, a long-time Chargers starter has made enough errors to warrant a real conversation about his spot on the team…even if he has been around for nearly half a decade.
The Bolts have seen their fair share of special teams issues, dating back decades in the franchise, with these issues usually occurring in key moments of regular-season and postseason games. Now, before the 2026 NFL season, they are seeing a plethora of mishaps from their starters on special teams, especially from their Punter, JK Scott.
Scott has been with the Chargers for four seasons and is expected to go into year five with the team barring disaster. Unfortunately, it seems that disaster has struck, with Scott becoming an area of concern more than he already has been during his Chargers tenure in the last few preseason games.
Last week in the preseason, Scott infamously did not tackle a return man, showing a complete lack of effort and willingness to play football, giving up a touchdown and continuing the blowout the Bolts were facing from the 49ers.
This, now coupled with his punt average of 26.5 for Week 3 of the preseason, gives the Chargers every reason to look elsewhere and replace him with a different Punter. Alex Katson, a Chargers content creator and special teams extraordinaire, mentions 40-year-old Thomas Morstead and Jamie Gillan as options to replace the Bolts’ struggling Punter, but also adds that Gillan may sign with the New England Patriots as soon as tomorrow.
Even with few options left in free agency, the Chargers preach “competitors welcome,” and no other player on the roster needs a competitor to push him either off the roster or to better himself more than Scott. He has played poorly in big moments for far too long, costing the Chargers field position when it matters most.
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