Chargers’ Derwin James Jr. says team needed to ‘win’ for Tuli Tuipulotu, Omarion Hampton

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Derwin James Jr. had plenty of regrets after the Chargers’ loss Sunday to the New York Giants. Naturally, he believed he and his teammates could have done more to defeat the Giants and improve their record to start the season 4-0, matching the 4-0 start by the 2002 team.

But there was more to James’ postgame lament, and it had everything to do with letting down two of his teammates after a 21-18 loss to the Giants. He wanted to win for himself, of course, but especially for outside linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu and running back Omarion Hampton, who had career-best games.

Tuipulotu recorded a career-high five sacks plus one additional tackle for a loss. Only linebacker Troy Dye, with 12 tackles, had more than Tuipulotu overall. It could have and should have been a game-changing performance in the mind of James, who would know about such things.

After all, James had 12 tackles in a 23-20 victory over the Denver Broncos, a game in which the Chargers rallied to win after getting two pivotal stops in the fourth quarter of the Sept. 21 at SoFi Stadium. James was then named the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Week.

“A performance like that, I wish we could get the win, so Tuli could be the hero,” said James, a safety who had eight tackles Sunday, including a half-sack along with outside linebacker Caleb Murphy of Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart. “You know what I mean? You lost, so it doesn’t even matter.”

Well, in hindsight, it was another sign of Tuipulotu’s advancement in his third season in the NFL and a possible sign of things to come. With likely Hall of Fame pass rusher Khalil Mack sidelined for the second of a minimum of four games because of an elbow injury, Tuipulotu stepped up.

“I wish we had gotten the win because he would have been the player of the week, bro,” James said.

James also felt he let down Hampton, a rookie who rushed for a career-high 128 yards and one touchdown on only 12 carries. Hampton, the Chargers’ first-round draft pick in April, proved to be difficult to stop while in heavy traffic. No one could catch him on a 54-yard touchdown run, either.

“Man, he came out of his shell today,” James said. “Big runs. Congrats to him. Let’s clean it up. When guys have performances like that, 128 (yards) full set. I’ll be just doing my job so they can get the glory and get the win.

“We’ll clean it up. If you didn’t have a good game, look at it, take it and be better. If you did have a good game, same mindset. So, we’ll be good, yes, sir.”

TURF ISSUES

The Giants suffered a key loss when wide receiver Malik Nabers was carted from the field because of a serious knee injury. He collapsed onto the field after attempting to catch a long pass along the right sideline from Dart on a 2nd-and-15 play with 6:12 remaining in the first half.

It was the second time in as many Chargers games that a player suffered a serious leg injury on an innocent-looking play on artificial turf. Chargers running back Najee Harris sustained a season-ending Achilles tendon injury during their victory over the Broncos in Week 3 at SoFi Stadium.

“Dear @NFL, I mean this with the utmost love and respect,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “We (the league) take all The precautions in the world with EVERYthing else when it comes to players ‘health and safety.’ PLZ. PLZ. PLZ. GET RID OF THE TURF. Thank You in advance. LUV.”

Beckham also referred to MetLife Stadium as “DeathLife” because of the many injuries on its turf.