The Chargers opened their last mini-camp of 2017 with everyone on the field. That includes freshly-signed linebacker Melvin Ingram and veteran tight end Antonio Gates, who had been working out of their own during most of the voluntary practices.
Even the presence of those veterans did not help what turned in to an ugly practice.
“They didn’t look very good today,” said Head Coach Anthony Lynn. “I wasn’t very pleased with the standard today.”
The coach had a few different reasons for this.
“They just looked sluggish,” said Lynn. “Committed some fouls and things that will get you beat, things that we haven’t done all off-season.”
Specifically, he was upset about things that have become hallmarks of the Chargers’ on-field performance in recent years.
“Too many mistakes, too many penalties, not enough energy,” said Lynn. “You know we had a long weekend but that’s no reason. Come back fresher, don’t come back sluggish.”
That is the kind of thing you typically would not hear from the previous regime but it’s not entirely surprising. Since he arrived Lynn has not minced words with the media or the players in the locker room.
“I think one thing we found out early on from Coach Lynn is he’s matter-of-fact and to-the-point,” said quarterback Philip Rivers, one of the few players Lynn singled out as NOT having had issues on Tuesday. “So we’ve gotta bounce back this afternoon and have a good walkthrough and have a better day tomorrow.”
I bring all this up because it became a running joke in 2016 when former head coach Mike McCoy would tell us all about how great a week of practice they had before losing to the Chiefs 33-3. Perhaps this kind of reversal will mean a few more wins.
Or maybe this was just an aberration.
“Practices have been outstanding this off-season. They set that standard. They set the expectations,” said Lynn. “They just didn’t do it today.”
The Bolts have two more practices in San Diego before moving permanently up to Los Angeles, an emotional topic we’ll deal with later in the week.
