The Chargers’ wide receiver room is filled with a handful of young players entering this season, while Joshua Palmer, is the longest-tenured one.
Entering his fourth season and the final year of his rookie contract, Palmer is primed for a prominent role in Greg Roman’s offense.
“I approach it like it’s a whole new team, because it technically is from the top down,” Palmer said, per the team’s official website. “The new coaching staff is getting to know me, I’m getting to know them and I’m just taking it one day at a time trying to get the installs, try to understand what they’re putting in and just letting everything fall the way they’re supposed to fall.”
Palmer, the 2021 third-round pick, has 143 career catches for 1,703 yards and nine touchdowns in his career.
Palmer stepped up when Keenan Allen and Mike Williams dealt with injuries in 2022, tallying 72 receptions for 769 yards and three scores across 16 games. Last season, he had a career-high 58.1 yards per game but was sidelined six games by a knee injury.
Now that Allen and Williams are no longer on the team, Palmer is the new veteran, and he has taken on the responsibilities of the role.
“When guys come up to me, I’ll give them what I have… If guys want to do that to me, of course I’ll help,” Palmer said. “I’m not just going to go force anything down someone’s throat like, ‘Oh you got to be doing this, you’ve got to be doing that.’ I have to learn this stuff too, so everyone is in the same boat right now.”
On the field, Palmer routinely creates separation for himself and makes big grabs down the field. He will need to continue doing that this season to help the offense and himself, as he will be seeking a new contract next offseason.
“I feel like my preparation is never going to change,” Palmer said. “Since my rookie year, I’ve always been preparing like if I was the one just because why would I prepare any differently. Why would I prepare as a backup, why would I prepare as someone that’s not going to play. That won’t change.
“From an experience standpoint, I think it’s important knowing that I might be in that role to have to step up big, but I wouldn’t say it’s anything new,” Palmer added. “The coaches have full trust in me, that’s what I’m working for, the receiver coach has full trust in me. I’m learning them and they’re learning me as well.”