https://www.si.com/nfl/chargers/news/chargers-broncos-wont-rest-starters-playoff-seeding-nfl-week-18

Chargers Not Looking to Rest Starters vs. Broncos, Focused on Locking in
No. 5 Seed

The Chargers have their sights set on the AFC's No. 5 seed.

Nicholas Cothrel
7 hours ago

The Chargers (10-6) are approaching the regular season finale against
the Broncos the same way they have all season, putting their best foot
forward to come away with a victory.

Despite locking in a playoff spot, Chargers coach Brandon Staley sees
great value in securing the highest seed possible, and a win over the
Broncos on Sunday, would give them the No. 5 seed entering the postseason.

"Our approach is definitely going to be to try to win this ballgame and
play as well as we can play heading into the playoffs," Staley said. "I
think that there's certainly an advantage to being the 5-seed, from
where I stand, so we’re going to try and get there."

Staley noted they'll proceed cautiously in handling the health of the
players, but didn’t indicate that any of the team's starters would be
held out of play for rest purposes.

"The case-by-case nature of the players, I think that is the approach
that we’re going to take, in terms of whether or not to sit them,"
Staley said. "If there’s something that we feel like that would be a
good decision, we’ll take that case-by-case.

"I think that going into the playoffs, you have to be playing football
to get to where you want to go, so we’re going to try and maximize our
group heading into the playoffs."

Running back Austin Ekeler shared where his mentality is at entering
Sunday's game, which aligned with his coach in that they each want the
AFC's No. 5 seed.

"We have gotten to a spot where we have a chance to go to the playoffs,"
Ekeler said. "We secured that and now we have a chance where, 'OK, let's
try to continue to bump up our seed.'"

As Staley noted, he'll manage the workload of his players accordingly in
an effort to keep them healthy. Ekeler, who's started all 16 games at
running back this season, says at this point in the year, his body does
feel quite beat up.

"My body does not feel good at all, but I can play, for sure," Ekeler
said. "The NFL season has a toll on your body. That’s why a lot of us
were really against adding an extra game for these reasons, because the
season already beats us up.

"You are lucky if you are able to make it through without any
substantial injuries. There is no time to heal our bodies, so these
things that we have going on, they just stay around."

The Chargers will occupy the No. 5 seed in the AFC with a win over the
Broncos or if the Ravens lose in Week 18. The AFC's No. 5 seed will go
on the road to face the winner of the Titans-Jaguars Week 18 game in the
Wild Card Round.