Chargers Open Rookie Mini-Camp

Second round pick makes a good first impression

The Chargers hit another one of those NFL off-season milestones. The first rookie mini-camp started at the Bolts' Murphy Canyon training facility, and for the first time in years, it was really, really wet out there.

In the rain, Chargers head coach Mike McCoy, who favors visors, even added a hoodie to shield himself from the rain. That very likely means the Bolts will start winning Super Bowls and getting caught in cheating scandals very soon.

All of San Diego's new guys, including 15 non-contract invitees who are basically on a tryout to earn another invitation to training camp, out on the field with the coaches to start learning the play book and, really, the whole way things are going to be run with their new team.

It was the first time to see running back Melvin Gordon, the first round pick, running in a San Diego uniform. But the second round pick caught a few eyes, too. Linebacker Denzel Perryman has muscles growing on other muscles. This guy was known as the hardest hitter in the Draft. So I asked him where his love of collisions came from

“I don’t even know,” said Perryman after his first NFL rookie camp workout on Friday. “Maybe it happened when I started playing football. I just get an adrenaline rush out of it. I won’t say it’s a stress reliever because I can deliver a couple of blows during a game. I don’t know. I just like contact.”

He got enough of it at Miami (FL), averaging more than five solo tackles a game in his three seasons with The U. Perryman is not the biggest guy on the field. Well, he’s not the tallest guy on the field. He weighs 240 pounds but is a bit shy of 6-feet tall, which actually helps him deliver those highlight-reel hits.

“I’m a lot shorter than a lot of people, so I already have the advantage right there,” says Perryman, who gets leverage on offensive players by keeping his pads underneath the other guys. “My power level is ridiculous, so taking a good angle and having good leverage on somebody (helps).”

Tackling, especially hitting hard, is just as much a mindset as it is a technique. You have to want to put your body in harm’s way and hurt the guys you’re running in to. That’s the way Perryman plays the game, and he says Chargers fans … and opposing offensive coordinators … will know when he’s on the field.

“When I get to the ball, you’ll know. You’ll hear it or you’ll see it. I’m getting there with bad intentions, so you’ve got to look out for me.”

If that’s not the perfect attitude for a middle linebacker to have, then I don’t know what is.

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