The Los Angeles Chargers star running back and Yahoo Sports’ Matt Harmon discussed what it was like to miss his first game in nearly three years and how he’s feeling going into this week’s game against the Vikings. Hear the full conversation on “Ekeler’s Edge” - part of the “Yahoo Fantasy Football Show” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

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Video Transcript

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MATT HARMON: Obviously, you miss week 2. You're dealing with an ankle injury right now, so I know that the people out there want a status report. And I know that it's not like you're going to come on here and just like tell everybody what's about to happen. Because that's not how the human body works, people.

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah, yeah, obviously, miss week 2. Hate missing games. It's just detrimental in multiple ways, right? For me, myself, for the team, for the fantasy, for the organization, for just football in general, right? We want to see our best players out there on the field because that's what is entertaining, right, when we see these amazing plays, and see consistency. So it sucks, but something that is part of the NFL. And we see it week in and week out, like it's going to happen. We know it's going to happen. That's why we have depth on our rosters.

And that's where the next-man mentality steps up. But as far as me, yeah, dealing with the ankle. And I've dealt with ankles in the past. And so, you just got to get it to a point where you feel good, where it's taped up and you can actually feel like, OK, if I get tackled, it's not going to be, right, re-aggravated and set me back to where I was before where I could barely walk on it. And so, it's like, it's not that's going to be, oh, like he's out for several months type of thing. It's a day-to-day, week-to-week type of situation. And I like the progress that I've made so far. So, hopefully, back sooner than later.

MATT HARMON: Like you said, it's a moving target. Like I had people hitting me up on Tuesday. Like, you think Austin's going to play on Sunday? I'm like, well, I don't-- number 1. I don't know, period. But number 2, we don't know on Tuesday how you're going to feel on Sunday. So this is a day-to-day type of situation.

AUSTIN EKELER: Exactly. And for me too, and just for all players, man, it's so annoying, especially when it's like nagging things, like an ankle. It's like I can still go in there and crush like a leg workout, but I can't run right now, something like that. But it's like, OK, let's continue to keep working. You got to stay patient because you can't speed it up by wanting it to be better. That's not how the body works, like you said.

Like you have to make sure you don't skip steps, get the proper treatment, and make sure you're-- kind of ease your way back into it, so that you can be in a position where you can at least save yourself. Because if you didn't know, football is a violent sport. And when you're dealing with injuries, it's not the best because you tend to try to like stay away from that area. But guys don't care if you're hurt or not. If you're on the field, it's full go. And so, you got to keep that in mind when we're going through these and coming back, and deciding when to come back.

MATT HARMON: Appreciate that update, Austin. Like I said, I know people. If we don't talk about it, like on your podcast, people are going to be like, what the hell, man? Like we want to hear something from Austin. So it's good to hear from you about this.

AUSTIN EKELER: Hey, we're making progress, man. I'll just say that.

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