Chargers place Njoku on IR and add Valdes-Scantling to active roster

The Chargers placed tight end David Njoku on injured reserve Wednesday and signed wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the active roster. Los Angeles also added long snapper Spencer Triplett to its practice squad. The confirmed transaction formalizes an injury absence the team had signaled earlier in the week and changes the available receiving group before Sunday's game at Buffalo.

Coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that Njoku had sustained a fibula injury against the Raiders and was headed to injured reserve. He also said tight end Charlie Kolar would go on IR with a forearm injury. The Chargers' Monday account explained that each would miss at least four games once placed there. Wednesday's release confirms Njoku's placement; it does not list a fresh transaction for Kolar in the same move. That distinction matters for tracking who is formally on the active roster at each point.

The double injury leaves Oronde Gadsden as the lone tight end remaining on the active roster in the team's Monday account. Harbaugh expressed confidence in Gadsden, but the team has not announced a full replacement snap plan for the Buffalo game. Gadsden's role could expand; that is an inference from the depleted group, not a named starter or target guarantee.

Valdes-Scantling joins a different position group. The 31-year-old has 219 catches for 3,686 yards and 21 touchdowns across 116 regular-season games, according to the Chargers' announcement. His 16.8 yards per reception and five career touchdown catches of at least 70 yards describe a field-stretching profile. Signing him to the active roster makes him eligible for selection, but the transaction does not specify a Week 3 snap count or route share.

Harbaugh discussed the signing during his Wednesday press conference, according to the team's official video description. The roster release remains the primary evidence for the move, and the clip gives readers a direct team source for the coach's current comments. No team footage or photography has been republished here.

For roster and fantasy decisions, the firm signals are Njoku's IR placement, the earlier announcement about Kolar, Gadsden's current place in the tight end room and Valdes-Scantling's active signing. The Chargers' later injury report and game-day roster will show how the offense actually allocates work against Buffalo.