Week 6 is about the point where seats start getting hot around the NFL. Five games isn't a huge sample for coaches and players, but it's enough time to see with some confidence that preseason expectations or hopes aren't going to be met. It's enough time for fans to be frustrated and make their feelings known in stadiums and on social media.
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There's no joy in seeing anyone around the league lose their job or miss out on an opportunity, but it's also a reality that everybody who works for a team faces on an annual basis. Today, I'm going to run through some of the players and coaches on the proverbial hot seat after the first five weeks of the 2026 NFL season and break down what's going wrong and what might happen next.
In no particular order, I'll hit on three head coaches, two coordinators and 10 players with questions about their futures with their current teams. And I'll begin with a coordinator for a winless team that entered the season with postseason aspirations.
Jump to a player or coach: McDaniel | Montgomery | Bland | Smack Bowles | Quinn | Sainristil | Sirianni Sheppard | Hairston | Jeudy | Brissett Smith | Thomas | Nix
Mike McDaniel, OC, Los Angeles Chargers
It seems natural to talk about what must be the most disappointing unit in football this season. And it's fair to note that, yet again, injuries have waylaid the Chargers on the offensive side of the ball. In last week's 23-17 loss to the Broncos, the Chargers were down their top two wide receivers (Quentin Johnston and Ladd McConkey, the latter of whom was active but did not play a single snap) and their three best offensive linemen (Joe Alt, Tyler Biadasz and Rashawn Slater). Justin Herbert's lone touchdown pass went to Hayden Rucci, a tight end who was signed off Jacksonville's practice squad in mid-September.
Even so, McDaniel's old employers in San Francisco have had plenty of injuries on offense and things are still humming along just fine for the 49ers. Frankly, even before the injuries really slowed this offense down, things didn't look the way they were supposed to in Los Angeles. The Chargers haven't been able to run the ball all season, ranking 28th in EPA per play on designed rushes.
McDaniel has been insistent on running into heavy boxes with limited success; the Chargers have faced a numbers disadvantage in the run game 36.2% of the time per NFL Next Gen Stats, which is the fifth-worst rate in the league. It's fine to run into loaded boxes if you trust your linemen to pull it off, but the Chargers are averaging 2.5 yards per carry and minus-0.32 EPA per play on those attempts while picking up first downs at the fifth-lowest rate in the NFL.