During his initial review of the Chargers’ regular season schedule, offensive coordinator Greg Roman stopped short of cursing the team’s Week 5 off, but he was at least “strongly against” it.

“It turns out,” Roman said this week, “it’s a gift from the football gods.”

The Chargers (2-2) lost consecutive games entering the off week, but won the break by returning key players from injury.

Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos, offensive tackles Rashawn Slater (chest) and Joe Alt (knee) returned to practice for the first time since suffering injuries in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Quarterback Justin Herbert, nursing a sprained right ankle, began participating in team bouts during practice and said he felt as healthy as he has since suffering the injury in Week 2.

Getting the starters back could be a much-needed remedy for the Chargers’ anemic offense, which hasn’t scored a second-half touchdown since Week 1. After averaging 197.5 yards rushing through the first two games, the Chargers have combined for just 116. the last two.

The Broncos (3-2) are not an easy launching pad. Winners of three straight games, give up just 4.4 yards per play, the second-fewest in the NFL.

The Chargers have lost three in a row to their AFC West rivals and haven’t won in Denver since 2018.