Tag: Donald Parham Jr.

Chargers re-sign TE Donald Parham Jr.

All three of the Chargers’ primary tight ends will return next season.

All three of the Chargers’ primary tight ends will return next season.

On Friday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler broke the news that Donald Parham Jr. had re-signed with the Chargers. Terms of the contract were not immediately available.

Parham became an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday after the Chargers elected not to tender him as a restricted free agent by the start of the new league year. He reportedly had interest from the Browns, Bills, and Patriots, the latter of which signed former Dolphin Mike Gesicki on Friday.

Signed out of the XFL in 2020, Parham has struggled with injuries, namely concussions and a recurring hamstring issue, in his time in LA. Last season he was limited to only six games, catching ten passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.

In his three-year Chargers career, he has 40 receptions for 479 yards and seven touchdowns.

Chargers not tendering Donald Parham, will be free agent

One of the Chargers’ more vital restricted free agents will be hitting the market.

One of the Chargers’ more vital restricted free agents will be hitting the market.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Monday that Los Angeles was unable to come to terms with tight end Donald Parham Jr. on a new contract, meaning that Parham will become a free agent. The Bolts had elected not to tender Parham in pursuit of a contract extension, but it appears the two sides were too far apart on what such a deal would look like.

LA now enters the 2023 league year with Gerald Everett and Tre’ McKitty under contract after speculation that Everett could be released for cap savings. Instead, the Chargers kept Everett as negotiations with Parham continued, perhaps a sign that negotiations never advanced toward a new deal.

Parham’s free agency now also enlarges the likelihood that the Chargers select a tight end early on in this year’s draft.

Brandon Staley on Donald Parham’s Week 17 touchdown: ‘Tremendous story of perseverance’

Parham has fought hard to return from injury to make an impact for the Chargers’ offense ahead of the team’s playoff push

The Los Angeles Chargers have cemented themselves as one of the AFC’s top teams in 2022 and added a key weapon to their arsenal when they got tight end Donald Parham Jr. back after a long stint on the injured reserve list.

Parham caught his first touchdown of the season against the Los Angeles Rams last week, and head coach Brandon Staley took time to recognize his achievement in his comments to the media on Monday. Speaking to reporters, Staley made it clear that the six-point score meant a lot to his big-bodied tight end, and was a long time coming after the adversity Parham faced earlier in the year.

“[It is] a tremendous story of perseverance, of will inside of a player,” Staley explained of the play. “Football has tested his patience. To see him go out like that and play a really complete game — I thought that he blocked extremely well yesterday, he was a factor in the passing game. To score a touchdown, a big red-area touchdown for us, it was a big moment for him.

“Everyone on the sideline, you could see it, the way that his teammates feel about him, his coaches feel about him. We have to continue to build off of that performance. Hopefully, he can continue to play with the confidence that you’re seeing because he is a weapon for us.”

Quarterback Justin Herbert is sure to continue targeting Parham through the rest of the season, especially in the red zone where his incredible six-foot-eight frame gives him a huge advantage over smaller defensive backs.

Chargers’ reasons for optimism vs. Titans

Reasons why the Chargers will beat the Titans on Sunday.

The Chargers enter Week 15 on a high note after defeating the Dolphins on Sunday night but continue their run against AFC playoff teams with a matchup against the Titans this weekend.

Here are four reasons to be optimistic about Los Angeles’ chances to fortify their position in the playoffs.

Injury trajectories

As of Thursday, the Chargers continue to wait on the injury status of Derwin James, Bryce Callahan, Sebastian Joseph-Day, and Trey Pipkins. That seems like a substantial list, but Los Angeles should get Donald Parham Jr. back on Sunday, as well as Mike Williams, Zion Johnson, and Jamaree Salyer practicing in full. Tennessee, meanwhile, has six starters on this week’s injury report whose game status seems to be in question. The most important of these are defensive linemen Denico Autry and Jeffery Simmons and cornerback Kristian Fulton, key members of the Titans’ defense. We’ve seen what this Chargers offense looked like last week with close to all of its pieces back, and adding Parham against a bruised Tennessee crew should only bring the offense to new heights.

Lackluster pass defense

Even with everyone healthy, Tennessee is 28th in pass defense DVOA. The Chargers are also first in neutral pass rate, while the Titans allow the highest neutral pass rate in the NFL. (Neutral pass rate is the rate at which teams pass on 1st and 2nd down outside of two-minute drills when a team’s winning probability is between 20-80%, per Hayden Winks of Underdog Fantasy.) The Chargers throw the ball a lot, and teams that play the Titans throw the ball a lot. Tennessee also struggles to defend said passes, while Los Angeles has gotten better and better at passing the ball as Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen, and Mike Williams have gotten healthy. With the Titans potentially also missing Fulton and the Chargers gaining steam, the statistical trends should only continue.

Brandon Staley, the game planner

We caught a glimpse last week of what made Staley such a coveted head coaching candidate when the Chargers hired him before the 2020 season – the ability to erase an opposing offense. Missing six defensive starters, LA could counter anything and everything Miami attempted, holding Tua Tagovailoa to a 35.7% completion percentage and the running game to 4.2 yards per carry, over an entire yard shorter than LA’s season average. Tennessee prevents an entirely different challenge with Derrick Henry and a run-heavy offense. Still, Staley and Renaldo Hill’s ability to do more with less should be trusted. Ryan Tannehill hasn’t exactly set the world on fire this season either and will likely be missing rookie Treylon Burks (concussion) for a second straight week.

California blues

The Titans haven’t beaten the Chargers in Southern California since before they were in Tennessee and called the Titans: a 17-7 Houston Oilers win over San Diego in 1990 is the last time this franchise won a road game against the Chargers. Since that game, Tennessee is 3-11 overall against the Bolts, including a 20-19 LA victory in London in which they held Derrick Henry to just 33 yards rushing. Dating back to 1960, the Chargers lead the series 28-18-1. Justin Herbert is the latest in a long line of Chargers franchise quarterbacks, and to date, they’ve all had at least one thing in common: beating the Houston/Tennessee franchise.

Chargers’ reasons for optimism vs. Broncos in Week 6

Here are four reasons why the Chargers should feel optimistic about winning when they face the Broncos.

The Chargers garner their second primetime appearance this week with a Monday Night Football matchup against the Broncos.

Denver has gotten off to a slow start with Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett at the helm, opening the possibility that Los Angeles moves to 4-2 on the season.

Here are four reasons to be optimistic that the Chargers come out on top.

Injury luck

The Chargers seem to be on the way up as far as injuries go, with Keenan Allen again listed as day-to-day. Donald Parham Jr. made his season debut, while Trey Pipkins looks like he won’t miss any time, despite a sprained MCL last Sunday. Meanwhile, The Broncos put three starters on injured reserve this week: left tackle Garett Bolles, cornerback Ronald Darby, and long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer. LA is, of course, missing the likes of Rashawn Slater and Joey Bosa, but the Broncos are also missing Javonte Williams, Randy Gregory, and Tim Patrick. Justin Simmons, Greg Dulcich, and Michael Ojemudia are eligible to return this week, but some rust on the defensive side and working new players into the fold on offense could lead to more mistakes than normal.

Offensive disjointment

Even without the injuries, Denver has struggled to get on the same page on offense. The Broncos seem to still be looking for an identity on that side of the ball, especially after Williams’ torn ACL. Courtland Sutton seems to be the only receiver with consistent chemistry with Wilson, while Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler have taken a bit of a backseat to the tight ends. Wilson is throwing over the middle a bit more than typical, but still not as often as he probably should be with the skill position personnel. Go back and watch Wilson skip over a wide-open Hamler against the Colts last week with a chance to win the game. The Chargers defense is good enough to prevent Denver from getting things in place this week, and there’s little reason to suggest the Broncos are on the upswing quite yet.

Strength on strength

The Chargers are 12th in pass defense DVOA but 22nd in run defense DVOA, which in an injury-free world would cause some legitimate concern around Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon on the docket. Instead, it’s Gordon and Latavius Murray, a duo currently sitting at 23rd in DVOA on the season. Per the stat, Denver is a better passing team than rushing one, at 21st in pass DVOA on the season. That means the gameplan should be skewed more toward keeping Wilson’s downturn going rather than the rush defense-focused one they had against Cleveland and Nick Chubb. That plays into LA’s hands by allowing them to lean on the strength of their defense: the secondary.

Game management

Say what you want about Brandon Staley’s decision to go for it on fourth and two late in the game against Cleveland, but there’s no denying that Nathaniel Hackett has been a worse decision-maker as a rookie head coach. Denver hired Jerry Rosburg as a game management specialist after two games, but the changes have been less than palpable. Hackett has the unenviable task of calling offensive plays while also managing the game, a tall task for many coaches and especially rookie ones. The former Packers offensive coordinator has become somewhat infamous for his decision-making, which tells me there’s a blunder to capitalize on coming up on Monday night.

Joe Buck’s comments about Donald Parnam Jr.’s injury mark a low for sports broadcasting

Joe Buck deserves criticism for his comment as Los Angeles Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr. was taken off the field Thursday night.

Joe Buck has demonstrated numerous times that as an announcer of an event, you remain mum and let the event tell the story. That is why his uncharacteristic, insensitive comment as Los Angeles Charger tight end Donald Parham Jr. was being stretchered off the field on Thursday night was so stunning.

Parham appeared to be unconscious after falling in the end zone while trying to catch a pass from Justin Herbert. For some reason, FOX Sports felt the need to give the viewing audience a close-up of the tight end, eyes closed as he was receiving medical treatment.

That was the initial poor decision. No need to be injected that close to what was a terrifying scene for players, fans, and the TV audience.

Parham was wheeled off the field to get further medical attention. It was obvious to all his arms were twitching/convulsing. Nothing needed to be said.

It got worse when Buck decided to offer commentary after saying “the last thing we would ever do is speculate about any injury, especially that type,”

So why did the play-by-play voice who has let so many scenes play out by remaining silent feel the need to continue talking and say:

“I will just add this- it is very cold, at least by Los Angeles standards, down on the field. Hopefully, that was more the issue than anything else.”

Buck is often self-deprecating and has a solid presence on social media.

The best thing he could do — and it would be in character for the Pro Football Hall of Famer — would be to step up and say the comment was out of line given the gravity of the situation.

This is one instance where Buck saying something would be far more powerful than remaining silent, which is what he should have done to begin  with Thursday.

Chargers’ TE Donald Parham Jr. in stable condition, undergoing tests

Chargers’ TE Donald Parham Jr. is reported to be stable condition by the team

The Los Angeles Chargers reported via Twitter Thursday that tight end Donald Parham Jr. is undergoing tests for a head injury at a Southern California hospital.

The team said Parham is in stable condition.

The 24-year-old Parham was injured while attempting to make a catch in the end zone during the first quarter of the Chargers’ game with the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday.

He was taken off on a stretcher, appearing to be unconscious.

The 6-foot-8, 237-pound Parham had 20 catches in 2021 coming into the AFC West game.

Parham played college ball at Stetson.

He was undrafted but signed with the Detroit Lions in 2019. He also spent time with the Washington Football Team.

Parham gained notice as a player for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL.

In his second game versus the Los Angeles Wildcats, Parham made five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.

Chargers vs. Browns Highlights: TE Donald Parham finds end zone for first score

The Los Angeles Chargers struck first.

Tight end Donald Parham Jr. got the Chargers on the board with a 22-yard screen touchdown.

Quarterback Justin Herbert hit Parham with Keenan Allen and Stephen Anderson blocking.

The scoring play comes from 10 plays and 85 yards at the 4:55 mark of the first quarter.

Check out the Bolts first touchdown of the afternoon:

After a passing touchdown from Baker Mayfield, Los Angeles currently trails, 10-7.