Chargers TE Jeff Cumberland out for season with Achilles injury

ByEric Williams ESPN logo
Sunday, August 21, 2016

SAN DIEGO - Chargers head coach Mike McCoy told reporters on Saturday that tight end Jeff Cumberland suffered a torn left Achilles tendon and is out for the season.

Cumberland sustained the injury in the first half of the San Diego Chargers' second preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals on Friday and did not return.

Cumberland earlier announced the news on Instagram.

With 8:42 left in the second quarter, Cumberland pulled up short near the back of the end zone after accelerating to catch a deep ball thrown by quarterback Kellen Clemens.

Cumberland, 29, had to be helped off the Qualcomm Stadium field, and was taken on a cart to the locker room for further evaluation.

It will be an uphill battle for Cumberland to return to the field. While with the New York Jets, Cumberland also suffered an Achilles tendon tear in 2011 that forced him to miss most of that season.

The Chargers also lost guard Donavan Clark, a seventh-round selection in this year draft, for the season after he suffered an ACL knee injury that forced him to leave the second half of San Diego's contest against the Cardinals.

Clark had been working with the second unit at both guard positions, an area of focus for San Diego, which had injury concerns along the offensive line last season.