Tag: Chargers OTAs

Chargers’ Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack heap praise on each other

Chargers’ Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack discussed what it could mean to be potentially the best pass-rushing tandem in the NFL.

Quarterbacks, the past few seasons, had to worry about Joey Bosa coming off the edge whenever they faced the Chargers. But now, they will have another terror in their faces in Khalil Mack, who was acquired via trade.

Between his time with the Raiders and Bears, Mack has a resume that includes the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year, three All-Pro selections, six Pro Bowl nods, and four straight years with double-digit sacks from 2015 through 2018.

Up to this point in the offseason stage, Mack has been limited as he is coming off a foot injury that forced him to miss the final ten games of the 2021 season. Still, the star-studded edge defenders have steadily been feeding tips to each other.

“It’s amazing. Just to have another guy like that to lean on, to look at,” Bosa said about Mack. “He’s great to talk to. Along with that, he’s obviously an unbelievable player, so having a guy like that on the other side is going to be really fun.”

Bosa added that he has looked up to Mack since he was a young player in the NFL and that their opposite skill sets will complement each other’s perfectly.

Mack will not only benefit from rushing opposite another premier pass rusher but playing for Brandon Staley, who boasts a similar scheme to former head coach Vic Fangio.

The year Staley was outside linebackers coach in Chicago in 2018, Mack enjoyed a solid campaign that year, finishing with 68 pressures, 48 hurries, and 12.5 sacks.

“That’s the thing. Strangely enough, the defensive calls are pretty much all the same. It’s just different wording,” Mack said on the defensive scheme. “Just figuring out the different tangibles as far as what coach Staley and the defensive staff want from myself, first and foremost, making sure I’m able to affect games the way I know how to affect games.”

Mack said it’s going to be very fun playing with Bosa, calling him “very smart,” adding that he’s looking forward to their joint film sessions during the season.

Last season, Los Angeles ranked 19th in pressure rate overall, and on third-and-longs, the team ranked 25th in pressure rate. Now, with Mack’s explosive power and burst and Bosa’s athleticism and hand usage to threaten blockers, these numbers should improve drastically.

Chargers excited about Mark Webb’s potential in Year 2

A knee injury kept Mark Webb from seeing the field more in 2021.

The Chargers will have some new members in the secondary, but a few familiar faces will also be vying to make contributions in 2022. Among them is second-year Mark Webb.

Drafted in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL draft, Webb appeared in seven games. Two of them were on defense, including Week 3 against the Chiefs when Derwin James missed the second half with a shoulder injury.

While his playing time was limited, Webb was on his way to seeing the field more frequently, but a knee injury that landed him on the injured reserve stopped that from coming to fruition.

Webb is still rehabbing his injury and has been out of the team’s organized team activities (OTAs) up to this point, but the plan is for him to be ready for training camp.

“He’s going to add a lot of competition in the secondary, we’re expecting a lot from him,” Brandon Staley said. “He’s a guy that was on the verge of playing a lot of football for us and then he had the injury. We’re hopeful for him, and I’m excited to see him compete.”

With Webb’s return, he will supply safety depth along with rookie JT Woods and Alohi Gilman behind James and Nasir Adderley.

Should he stay healthy, Webb has the skillset to play both in the slot (Star) and a sub-package safety-linebacker hybrid role (Money).

4 quotes from Week 3 of Chargers OTAs that stood out

Donald Parham was among four Chargers that spoke at media availability in Week 3 of OTAs.

The Chargers continued their voluntary organized team activities (OTAs) this past Tuesday, which was then followed by media availability where three players and one coach spoke.

Here’s some of what they had to say:

DC Renaldo Hill: “We have a lot to work with right now.”

Hill’s time on the podium was all about diversity on the defensive end, something he said was a focus for the team going into the offseason. Hill also mentioned that most of the additions were guys they felt fit the defensive scheme better than last year’s players did and said linebacker Kyle Van Noy as a “jack of all trades” that the team is excited to have in the building. Later on, Hill also emphasized the importance of competition in the secondary in ensuring that backups are prepared to play if their number gets called.

That competitive atmosphere and its benefits can probably be extended to the defensive line as well, where several players have uncertain roles or roster spots heading into the heat of summer. It sounds as though year two of Staley and Hill’s scheme will emphasize versatility, which could lead to some surprise roster decisions down the line. It also means that the defense should be better equipped to deceive opposing offenses.

DL Morgan Fox: “I’m grateful and happy to be part of this room.”

Fox confirmed what’s been shown on Twitter for the last few days by telling reporters that the defensive line room has been getting along swimmingly despite so many new additions this offseason. He also confirmed that the calls and verbiage of the defense are the same as when he played for Staley on the other side of town.

While there’s not any evidence that morale was low on the defensive line last season, it’s refreshing to see that the entire room is having as good of a time as they are this year. Locker room morale is an oft-underrated aspect of on-field performance, and the early returns this season seem to suggest that these successful new relationships between teammates will engender more success on the field.

Another point of comfort for Chargers fans: if all the nuances of the defensive scheme are truly the same as they were for the Rams in 2020, the defense has a leg up on fine-tuning their knowledge with so many former Rams now in the building to serve as tutors. Fox, Joseph-Day, and linebacker Troy Reeder all have prior experience in the system and should be able to pass along their tips and tricks to the rest of the team, which could lead to big returns.

LB Kyle Van Noy: “I’m trying to get the most out of players around me.”

Van Noy echoed Hill’s comments about competition, saying that he wants every guy on the team to do well because that competitive atmosphere will inspire him to be his best. He also said that everything about the Chargers organization convinced him to come to play in LA before telling reporters that his exact role in the defense is a “secret.”

Van Noy’s enthusiasm for the culture that the Chargers have built under Brandon Staley is excellent news for keeping talent home and convincing them to come to LA. While traditionally a “big market” team, the Rams have always seemed to have better luck luring talent to the City of Angels than the Chargers have. Van Noy’s comments suggest that it may be shifting in favor of the Bolts, although it’ll still be even at best given the Rams’ continued hyper-aggressiveness.

The fact that Van Noy declines to tell reporters what his exact role in the defense is going to be is notable, as it implies that he’s going to be asked to do just about everything on the field. That’s something that many fans guessed when he was signed, but I think it does lend credence to the theory that he’ll spend time at off-ball linebacker to supplement Drue Tranquill and Kenneth Murray. Of course, that’s in addition to his role as a secondary edge rusher behind Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack.

TE Donald Parham Jr.: “I had to take my time and just think about if this was something that I wanted to do for the rest of my career.”

Parham was candid with the media in saying he wasn’t sure he’d ever return to the field after a nasty concussion against the Chiefs in week 15 that kept him from playing for the rest of the season. He said he didn’t feel back to normal until the end of February to early March. Now, Parham is fully healthy and feels motivated by a locker room that he said: “makes me feel like part of a family.”

On the one hand, it’s a frightening look at the reality of concussions to hear that Parham didn’t feel himself until nearly three months after his injury occurred. Nobody could blame him for not being willing to risk returning after an injury like that. On the other hand, it’s again a testament to the culture Staley and GM Tom Telesco have built that Parham feels so strongly about his teammates that he decided he was willing to battle back from such a severe setback.

Few players have worked more challenging to get to where they are than Parham, who has risen from the XFL to even be on the roster, let alone play such a significant role as the second tight end next to Gerald Everett. We should all hope he breaks out in a big way and stays healthy in 2022.

Best photos from Week 1 of Chargers OTAs

Check out the Bolts back in action.

The Chargers concluded their first week of organized team activities (OTAs), where rookies and veterans hit the field for the first time and went through non-contact team and special teams drills together.

To see the Bolts back in action, here is a slew of photos from Hoag Performance Center in Costa Mesa, CA.

6 quotes from the first week of Chargers OTAs that stood out

Highlighting six quotes that stood out from Justin Herbert, Brandon Staley and Derwin James.

The Chargers completed their first week of voluntary organized team activities (OTAs), which also marks the first media availability for most members of the organization since the draft.

Here’s some of what they had to say:

Justin Herbert: “We’re miles ahead of where we were last year.”

Entering his third season in the NFL, Herbert has been afforded continuity this offseason that many young quarterbacks lack early in their careers. With offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi returning, neither Herbert nor any returning offensive players need to learn a new offensive system. That allows the team to focus less on lining up correctly and more on pure execution, which could pay huge dividends early in the season. With two divisional games leading the schedule off, LA will take any advantage.

Herbert: “You can go to Chase Daniel and you trust him.”

Herbert credited Daniel for filling in the gaps in his knowledge a year ago, calling the veteran “another coach out there.” The third-year signal-caller also said that he’d be comfortable with Daniel stepping in for him if he had to miss time, an endorsement that many Chargers fans should be happy to hear. Of course, keeping veterans like Daniel around is always a point of contention for some fans. On the one hand, he’s thrown just 261 passes in 12 seasons, and the proposition of going from Herbert to him if Herbert were to miss time would be indeed bleak the season outlook. But on the other hand, having a second coach on the field who Herbert trusts can go a long way toward unlocking his seemingly limitless potential.

Derwin James: “My job right now is to help guys like Khalil Mack, and JT Woods get up to speed.”

James fielded a few questions on Monday about his upcoming contract negotiations, which seem poised to make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid safeties. James himself doesn’t seem too worried about it at this juncture, saying that “whenever that takes care of itself, it will take care of itself.” There’s little reason to think that James put pen to paper, considering he’s been among the NFL’s best players regardless of position when healthy. Whether the extension comes this summer or during the season, expect Derwin to remain in powder blue for the foreseeable future.

Brandon Staley: “Both of those guys played quality football for us.”

“Both of those guys” refers to right tackle options Storm Norton and Trey Pipkins here, as Staley again insisted that Norton and Pipkins will be the leading two players battling for the starting job next to rookie guard Zion Johnson. The right tackle competition has been a gigantic debate point this offseason, and rightfully so. On paper, it’s the only hole on the entire offense, and another season of poor play could be just enough to tip the scales out of the Chargers’ favor. However, Staley did say that left guard Matt Feiler and “some of these young guys” – likely Brenden Jaimes and Jamaree Salyer, who played tackle in college, could be in the mix if the staff is unimpressed by both Norton and Pipkins this summer.

Staley: “[Jerry Tillery is] going to fit into that competition of guys that’s going to have to earn a role.”

After Tillery’s unexplained absence at OTAs on Monday, Staley used a question about it to discuss the competition on the defensive line. LA’s head coach singled out Sebastian Joseph-Day and Austin Johnson as “proven NFL players,” all but confirming that they will be 2 of the three starters on the interior against the Raiders in Week 1. Beyond that, Staley characterized everyone else as “guys trying to prove themselves”: Tillery, rookie Otito Ogbonnia, the recently signed Morgan Fox, Christian Covington, Breiden Fehoko, Joe Gaziano, and Forrest Merrill. Ogbonnia, Fox, and Covington were listed as virtual locks for the roster by The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, which brings the group to 5 players, as many as they carried in 2021.

This season, a sixth is likely, and I’m not convinced Covington is as strong of a lock as Popper suggests. Fehoko was arguably the best run defender on the team a season ago and could take Covington’s job this offseason. As for Tillery, Fox seems like his 1-to-1 replacement as an interior pass rusher while also providing more of a presence against the run. OTAs rarely mean much, but Staley’s comments on Monday show that Tillery may have a looser hold on a roster spot than many thought.

Staley: “We just feel like that versatility is really going to help us”

Staley’s quote here refers to linebacker Kyle Van Noy, but the same sentiment was expressed when talking about Bryce Callahan. Staley praised Callahan’s chops in the slot, calling him one of the top slot corners in the league, but also made sure to mention that he’s played on the outside during his NFL career. When the topic shifted to Asante Samuel’s role, Staley pointed out that Callahan’s addition doesn’t force LA to play the second-year corner on the inside. Instead, this summer will be about finding “our best combination of secondary players,” per Staley.

As for Van Noy, Staley mentioned the veteran’s ability to play on the edge or off-ball and praised his instincts, calling him a “playmaker.” I think it’s interesting that there’s so much emphasis on Van Noy’s versatility, especially considering the lack of depth at linebacker behind Kenneth Murray and Drue Tranquill. While Van Noy’s likely role will be as a third pass rusher, I think Monday’s offerings show that he may also get thrown in the mix as an off-ball linebacker, perhaps in some disguised pressure packages.

Battle for starting right tackle underway for Chargers

Right tackle is one of the most position battles to watch for this summer for the Los Angeles Chargers.

For the most part, the Chargers have all of the starting jobs fulfilled ahead of the regular season. However, the right tackle spot is one of the very few exceptions.

Los Angeles entered this offseason with the position seen as one of its holes after Bryan Bulaga was released. However, after passing up on the free agency pool and draft altogether, the team seems comfortable with returners Trey Pipkins and Storm Norton battling it out for the job.

Following the first day of organized team activities (OTAs), Brandon Staley reiterated that, saying that they are excited to see Pipkins and Norton “duke it out” throughout the summer. Staley also added that they’re also considering Matt Feiler for the right tackle position.

Norton was the starting right tackle last season, and he had his fair share of struggles, allowing 60 pressures and nine sacks. Pipkins played well in his two starts in 2021 and has spent this offseason working with highly touted offensive line developer Duke Manyweather.

As for Feiler, he has played right tackle in his career while he was with the Steelers. However, it would not surprise if, ultimately, the Chargers want to keep the left-side trio of tackle Rashawn Slater, Feiler, and center Corey Linsley intact.

But should Feiler actually make his case to be the starting right tackle, second-year Brenden Jaimes and rookie Jamaree Salyer would compete for the starting left guard spot, while first-round pick Zion Johnson mans right guard.

This will be one of the most compelling position battles this summer.

Chargers OTA Attendance: Jerry Tillery among Day 1 absences

The full list of Chargers players who weren’t spotted on the practice field on Day 1 of voluntary OTAs.

The Chargers kicked off their first OTA practice of the spring Monday. This marked the beginning of Phase 3, including nine OTAs — all voluntary — and a mandatory two-day minicamp June 15-16.

There were both expected and unexpected absences on Day 1. Here’s the full list of players who weren’t spotted on the practice field at Hoag Performance Center.

Joey Bosa

Austin Ekeler

J.C. Jackson

Mike Williams

Jerry Tillery

Kenneth Murray

Tillery not participating is surprising, to say the least. The former first-round pick has failed to live up to his draft billing and is entering the final year of his contract, as the team did not pick up the fifth-year option.

A starter last season, playing time is not guaranteed this year. Instead, he will have to compete for snaps with the team’s offseason additions, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Austin Johnson, Morgan Fox, and rookie Otito Ogbonnia.

Tillery’s status will closely be monitored over the week.

Murray underwent ankle surgery earlier this offseason, but Brandon Staley said that he should be ready to start training camp.

As for Bosa, Ekeler, Jackson, and Williams, there were no explanations for their absences.

It’s worth noting that players can miss OTA sessions for various reasons, including illness, injury, or personal matters, except for mandatory minicamp on June 15-16.

Chargers announce 2022 offseason workouts, OTA dates

Find out when the Chargers will start their offseason workout program.

The start of the 2022 regular season is still four months away, but preparation for it is set to get underway soon.

The NFL released the schedule for each team’s offseason workout programs, including the Chargers’ dates.

Below is the team’s official news release on the program schedule.

  • First Day: April 18
  • Organized Team Activities (OTAs): May 23-24, May 26, May 31-June 1, June 3, June 6-7, June 9
  • Mandatory Minicamp: June 15-16

Chargers OT Bryan Bulaga ‘very impressed’ with rookie Rashawn Slater

The veteran had high praise for the rookie.

During the pre-draft process, there were some evaluators who labeled Rashawn Slater as the top tackle prospect in the class, even over Lions’ Penei Sewell.

Slater, the Chargers’ first-round pick, has lived up to his hype in the early going, as veteran offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga has been highly impressed by him so far.

“Putting my scouting hat on right now even though I’m not a scout, I think physical traits-wise, he checks all those boxes,” Bulaga said, per the team’s official website.

“I think movement and his footwork and how smooth he is in pass protection and run, those are all things that are good and essential, but I think so far from what we have gone through on the field and watching tape and seeing how he’s picked up things, I’m very impressed by it.

I think he’s gonna be a guy that catches on really quick and is able to at least certainly get comfortable with the scheme before we go out there for the first time and do it for real.”

Bulaga noted that Slater could experience some growing pains, just like he did in his first season in this league. But as long as he’s comfortable with the scheme and with his assignments, and he’s constantly communicating with the other members up front, the transition should be smooth.

With reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year quarterback Justin Herbert’s longevity a priority, Los Angeles needs as much talent as possible, and Slater’s presence brings a major upgrade to a crucial position.

In his final season of college, Slater was a wall against elite competition, with the likes of Chase Young (Football Team), Zack Baun (Saints) and AJ Epenesa (Bills), allowing zero sacks, just one quarterback hit and four quarterback hurries on 355 pass-blocking reps.

In training camp, which starts on July 28, Slater will really get to show his worth in one-on-ones against elite edge defender Joey Bosa.

What we learned about Chargers rookie OT Rashawn Slater during spring practices

The Los Angeles Chargers’ first-round pick made a good early impression.

The Chargers landed a gem in offensive tackle Rashawn Slater with their first-round pick in this year’s draft.

How did Slater do during the offseason workouts the past couple of months? ESPN’s Shelley Smith was in attendance for the team’s organized team activities, where she was able to see him firsthand.

Slater is solid, if not a bit smaller than you would expect. Nicknamed “The Wall,” he opted out of the 2020 season at Northwestern, but in 2019 he allowed zero sacks and was awesome against Ohio State’s star pass-rusher Chase Young, the No. 2 overall pick last year. There were some pre-draft questions about Slater’s arm length, which didn’t seem to pose a problem in shorts and cleats.

Smith highlights Slater’s physical traits, which were seen as a potential issue for him to stick at the tackle at this level throughout the pre-draft process. However, he has appeared to defy the odds in the early going.

While there may still be concerns with Slater’s long-term outlook at tackle, he is technically sound, very intelligent, physical and consistent which shows both in the pass- and run-blocking department to stick around there.

During OTAs, Slater was with the first-team offense, with the rest of the line consisting of Matt Feiler at left guard, Corey Linsley at center, Oday Aboushi at right guard and Bryan Bulaga at right tackle.

Even though there wasn’t any contact, it’s good to hear that Slater did well this spring. Onto training camp next month, where he will really get to show his worth in one-on-ones against edge defender Joey Bosa.