Six games into the season, one head coach has stopped defending his offensive coordinator, one safety is apologizing for spitting on an opponent, and two Giants are answering questions about trust. Nobody on this page had a quiet Tuesday.
Start with the Los Angeles Chargers, because 0-6 forces the issue. Jim Harbaugh said "we're going to look at everything" and that "it needs to be addressed" when asked about Mike McDaniel's future, and a report says the winless Chargers could soon fire their offensive coordinator. Chargers fans have already pushed back on the idea of Adam Gase as a possible replacement.
My read: McDaniel is the fall guy for a Justin Herbert problem the building does not want to name out loud. Herbert's line in the latest loss reads 22-of-37 for 204 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, four sacks taken, a 48.5 QBR. That is not a coordinator failing to scheme receivers open. That is a protection plan and a quarterback that cannot survive pressure, and firing the guy calling the plays does not touch either one. I expect the Chargers to make the move anyway, because 0-6 teams always take the cheap fix. I also expect Gase to stay unemployed. A staff that just alienated its own fan base is not going to hand the offense to the name that set them off.
Buffalo's C.J. Gardner-Johnson was ejected from Sunday's game in Las Vegas after spitting at Brock Bowers. Referee Shawn Smith said umpire Tra Blake witnessed it. Gardner-Johnson has since apologized to his Bills teammates and said, "I've got to control my emotions."
Here is the problem with that sequence. The apology went to his own locker room, not to the man he spat at, and the public statement is a man managing his own reputation rather than the opponent he disrespected. I expect a fine and not a suspension, because the league has the umpire's eyewitness account and no rule that mandates a ban. The cost lands on Buffalo's secondary, which just spent a game without one of its starting safeties and now has a player the officials will watch closely. Sean McDermott has built a discipline-first program. This is a crack in it.
The New York Giants limited Cam Skattebo's role in Sunday's loss to the Saints, and former NFL running back Damien Harris said the Giants "don't trust" him. Harris is doing what ex-players do, reading a depth chart out loud, but the usage is a signal and signals are what players feel first. My read: trust in the NFL is earned in pass protection and ball security, not in carries, and a back who gets pulled in a competitive game has been told exactly where the coaching staff sees him. That is fixable in a month. It is also the fastest way for a rookie to lose a job he thought he had.
Jameis Winston spent the fourth quarter of that same Giants loss watching, and afterward said, "I'd love to put myself in a better position to execute." That is a benched quarterback's sentence, and it is aimed inward because aiming it at the staff would cost him the room. What it tells me is the Giants' quarterback situation is unresolved rather than settled. Winston is not campaigning. He is auditioning for the next snap, and I would not be surprised if he gets it, because a team losing games eventually tries the option it has not worn out yet.
Finally, Carolina. Tommy Tremble punctuated his second touchdown of Sunday's 25-14 win over the Eagles by turning and pointing at Cooper DeJean, then said he did it because of an "egregious" hit on a teammate. Good. A tight end with two touchdowns taking a taunting penalty to answer a hit on a teammate is culture, and the Panthers have been short on culture for years. The flag is a real cost, so is a possible fine. I would take that trade every week.
My verdict for the week: McDaniel is gone before anyone else on this page, Gase never gets the job, Gardner-Johnson gets a checkbook penalty and not a suspension, and the Giants hand Skattebo a short-yardage role within a month to find out if the trust story is real. Carolina is the only club here that got better on Sunday, and it did it by getting mad.