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Kris Rhim, ESPN
LOS ANGELES — Chargers outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his 11-year career, said Sunday that he is unsure about his football future.
“Man, it’s a lot of different thoughts in my head right now,” Mack, 33, said. “I can’t really speak on a definitive decision in terms of what I’m going to do because I don’t know if I’m going to play football moving forward, so there’s some things I gotta talk through with my wife, spend some time with my kids and try not to make a rash decision after a loss.”
The Chargers’ season ended Saturday after their 32-12 wild-card round loss to the Houston Texans. Mack had a season-high two sacks in the loss, a game he was hopeful would be the start of a Super Bowl push in his 11th season.
“I can’t make this situation about myself, man, even though selfishly you feel like, ‘Damn,’ you know what I’m saying? ‘This was the one,'” Mack said after the loss.
Mack, a Defensive Player of the Year winner (2016) and one of the most decorated outside linebackers in NFL history, has had little team success. He has lost all five playoff appearances in his career.
On Sunday, Mack and the rest of the Chargers cleared out their lockers for the offseason. Mack said his lack of team success might lure him back for Year 12, but spending time with his family and two sons, who are 2 and 3 years old, could prove to be more important.
Mack said that he doesn’t have a timeline for when he will make the decision, but that he still believes his best chance to win is with the Chargers.
“As long as Justin Herbert is your quarterback. You got [safety] Derwin James and all these guys that love the game of football, and Jim Harbaugh coaching?” Mack said. “You know you always have a chance to win. Yeah, that’s a no-brainer.”
James said he has already been recruiting Mack back to the Chargers.
“I told him we want him back, we need him back,” James said.
Cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., who didn’t play after Week 4 with a shoulder injury, said he has been dealing with “stinger symptoms” to both shoulders stemming from a collision in practice. He also said the injury is related to something he was born with, but he declined to go into details. Samuel said he expects to be healthy for the offseason program.
“Out of my 20 years of playing, I never missed a season like this, more than two or three games or four games, so it was definitely tough just not being out there with my brothers,” he said. “It was hurtful not to be out there.”
Samuel said he doesn’t think the injury will impact his career going forward. He is an unrestricted free agent but said he wants to return to the Chargers.
“I love the Chargers and it’s a great organization headed in the right direction,” he said. “I hope I’ll be able to come back.”