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Notes from the field
1. The Chargers had perfect attendance at practice. All 82 rostered players were present and accounted for, including edge rusher Joey Bosa, who was the only Charger not to attend at least one day of OTAs.
2. Players had helmets on for the first time this spring. They kept their helmets and cleats on for the first hour of practice, going through individual drills, special teams and offensive and defensive walkthroughs. The defense was on one field and the offense was on the other for those walkthroughs. After that hour, the players went inside to change into sneakers for the second hour of practice, which was 11-on-11 walkthroughs. Head coach Brandon Staley came to compromise with his players earlier this spring. They agreed to full-speed individual drills but no competitive one-on-ones or competitive team drills. This was primarily in the interest of player safety (media members only got to watch the first hour).
3. Staley spent the majority of the first hour watching the quarterbacks. He looked on as Justin Herbert, Chase Daniel and Easton Stickthrew to receivers and tight ends against air. Staley then moved over to the the offensive line to observe his new and improved front.
4. The Chargers finally had their full starting offensive line intact: Rashawn Slater at left tackle, Matt Feiler at left guard, Corey Linsleyat center, Oday Aboushi at right guard and Bryan Bulaga at right tackle. Linsley said Tuesday was his first time meeting Aboushi. Both were free agent signings, like Feiler.
5. K.J. Hill, Tyron Johnson, Jalen Guyton and Austin Proehl were returning punts during the special teams period.
6. Kenneth Murray was not participating in the individual drills and did not have his helmet. He had offseason shoulder surgery but said earlier this month that he expects to be 100 percent by training camp. Wide receiver John Hurst, who signed a reserve/future contract in January, was also not practicing.
7. Brandon Facyson continued to work with the first-team defense as an outside corner. Ryan Smith also rotated in as a sub-package defensive back with the first team.
Herbert impressing vets
Linsley and tight end Jared Cook both raved about Herbert’s intelligence. This was our first time speaking with the two free agent acquisitions since their introductory news conferences back in March.
Cook’s comments were particularly noteworthy because he is familiar with the Saints offensive scheme after spending the past two seasons in New Orleans. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, of course, joined the Chargers after serving as the Saints quarterbacks coach for most of the last 15 years.
“Smart quarterback. He’s doing a good job of getting the offense down,” Cook said of Herbert. “I’ve seen some quarterbacks his age in this offense that just don’t get it, and they never get it. …What I see from him is that the corrections that he’s making aren’t big ones, but the little ones that he makes, he picks up on them fast. He changes it. It’s not a repetitive correction thing, which is what you see out of a lot of young guys, no matter what position, in the league. There are those mistakes that you have to get rid of and I don’t see any of that from him. He’s been on it, man.”
Added Linsley: “He’s picking it up really, really fast.”
Interesting comments on new defense
Linebacker Drue Tranquill and defensive back Chris Harris continued the trend of excitement among Chargers defensive players. They are ecstatic to to be implementing Staley’s scheme, which they believe will maximize their strengths more than Gus Bradley’s scheme did.
Tranquill, who missed all but two series last season after suffering a gruesome broken ankle in Week 1, specifically mentioned a play from his rookie year where he was covering Tyreek Hill deep down the middle of the field. He does not expect to put in similar situations with Staley.
“Not an ideal matchup,” said Tranquill, who feels 100 percent healthy. “I like to think that I can compete against anybody, but he’s a little bit faster than I am. We’re going to put our players in a position to win in their matchups. I think you’ll see us a little bit more at the second level and letting those back guys handle those vertical routes. Coach Staley just keeps emphasizing, ‘Let’s let you play linebacker.’ So I think that through the communications and through his schematics, he’s able to put us into those positions that are favorable.”
“There’s a lot of communication, but it’s good,” Tranquill added. “We can be very multiple and match a lot of different personnel groupings. We can match up against a lot of different offensive schemes. Whether a team wants to get into 21 (personnel, two backs and a tight end) and pound the football or spread it out and run RPOs, we have defenses that can match up against those schemes.”
Harris is familiar with this scheme, which Staley adopted from Broncos head coach Vic Fangio. Harris spent 2019 with Fangio before signing with the Chargers. Staley was the outside linebackers coach on that staff. Harris called Staley’s scheme “night and day” and the “complete opposite” of Bradley’s Cover 3-heavy scheme.
“I feel very comfortable,” Harris said. “I’m able to be that extra quarterback back there for these guys.”
Harris said he and Derwin James have both been practicing at three different positions.
“Me and him are kind of like the position-less players,” Harris said. “Just DBs.”
Reading between the lines, I would expect Harris’ three positions to be outside corner, nickel corner (or Star, as Staley calls it) and dime backer (or Money). I would expect James’ three positions to be strong safety, Star and Money. One thing to remember: Staley is going to have a lot of different players defend the slot depending on the situation. This is one way he keeps his defense multiple and disrupts opposing quarterbacks.
Interesting comments on new offense
Cook said Lombardi’s offense has about 30 to 40 percent of overlap with Sean Payton’s Saints system.
“But, there is a lot of new terminology,” he added.” There are different plays and different positions and ways to get different guys that ball. Different nuances on certain plays that we didn’t run in the past that we’ve added a new glitch to that I think works out better on a lot of different plays. Some of it is carry-over, but it’s just a new offense completely.”
Based on what I have heard from coaches and players, it seems the passing offense is going to be most similar to what the Saints run. They are also going to adopt Payton’s strategy of using a wide variety of formations and personnel groupings to attack specific defensive personnel and keep defenses honest. (For more on those specifics, read this breakdown.)
The run game, though, will more closely resemble the Kyle Shanahan system in San Francisco, which, at its core, features zone blocking schemes, specifically wide zone. Linsley is familiar with this run scheme from his time in Green Bay. Packers coach Matt LaFleur comes from the same coaching tree. Kyle Shanahan and LaFleur both coached under Mike Shanahan while in Washington in 2012.
“A lot of the same stuff that we ran in Green Bay,” Linsley said. “There’s a lot of carry-over.”
1. The Chargers had perfect attendance at practice. All 82 rostered players were present and accounted for, including edge rusher Joey Bosa, who was the only Charger not to attend at least one day of OTAs.
2. Players had helmets on for the first time this spring. They kept their helmets and cleats on for the first hour of practice, going through individual drills, special teams and offensive and defensive walkthroughs. The defense was on one field and the offense was on the other for those walkthroughs. After that hour, the players went inside to change into sneakers for the second hour of practice, which was 11-on-11 walkthroughs. Head coach Brandon Staley came to compromise with his players earlier this spring. They agreed to full-speed individual drills but no competitive one-on-ones or competitive team drills. This was primarily in the interest of player safety (media members only got to watch the first hour).
3. Staley spent the majority of the first hour watching the quarterbacks. He looked on as Justin Herbert, Chase Daniel and Easton Stickthrew to receivers and tight ends against air. Staley then moved over to the the offensive line to observe his new and improved front.
4. The Chargers finally had their full starting offensive line intact: Rashawn Slater at left tackle, Matt Feiler at left guard, Corey Linsleyat center, Oday Aboushi at right guard and Bryan Bulaga at right tackle. Linsley said Tuesday was his first time meeting Aboushi. Both were free agent signings, like Feiler.
5. K.J. Hill, Tyron Johnson, Jalen Guyton and Austin Proehl were returning punts during the special teams period.
6. Kenneth Murray was not participating in the individual drills and did not have his helmet. He had offseason shoulder surgery but said earlier this month that he expects to be 100 percent by training camp. Wide receiver John Hurst, who signed a reserve/future contract in January, was also not practicing.
7. Brandon Facyson continued to work with the first-team defense as an outside corner. Ryan Smith also rotated in as a sub-package defensive back with the first team.
Herbert impressing vets
Linsley and tight end Jared Cook both raved about Herbert’s intelligence. This was our first time speaking with the two free agent acquisitions since their introductory news conferences back in March.
Cook’s comments were particularly noteworthy because he is familiar with the Saints offensive scheme after spending the past two seasons in New Orleans. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, of course, joined the Chargers after serving as the Saints quarterbacks coach for most of the last 15 years.
“Smart quarterback. He’s doing a good job of getting the offense down,” Cook said of Herbert. “I’ve seen some quarterbacks his age in this offense that just don’t get it, and they never get it. …What I see from him is that the corrections that he’s making aren’t big ones, but the little ones that he makes, he picks up on them fast. He changes it. It’s not a repetitive correction thing, which is what you see out of a lot of young guys, no matter what position, in the league. There are those mistakes that you have to get rid of and I don’t see any of that from him. He’s been on it, man.”
Added Linsley: “He’s picking it up really, really fast.”
Interesting comments on new defense
Linebacker Drue Tranquill and defensive back Chris Harris continued the trend of excitement among Chargers defensive players. They are ecstatic to to be implementing Staley’s scheme, which they believe will maximize their strengths more than Gus Bradley’s scheme did.
Tranquill, who missed all but two series last season after suffering a gruesome broken ankle in Week 1, specifically mentioned a play from his rookie year where he was covering Tyreek Hill deep down the middle of the field. He does not expect to put in similar situations with Staley.
“Not an ideal matchup,” said Tranquill, who feels 100 percent healthy. “I like to think that I can compete against anybody, but he’s a little bit faster than I am. We’re going to put our players in a position to win in their matchups. I think you’ll see us a little bit more at the second level and letting those back guys handle those vertical routes. Coach Staley just keeps emphasizing, ‘Let’s let you play linebacker.’ So I think that through the communications and through his schematics, he’s able to put us into those positions that are favorable.”
“There’s a lot of communication, but it’s good,” Tranquill added. “We can be very multiple and match a lot of different personnel groupings. We can match up against a lot of different offensive schemes. Whether a team wants to get into 21 (personnel, two backs and a tight end) and pound the football or spread it out and run RPOs, we have defenses that can match up against those schemes.”
Harris is familiar with this scheme, which Staley adopted from Broncos head coach Vic Fangio. Harris spent 2019 with Fangio before signing with the Chargers. Staley was the outside linebackers coach on that staff. Harris called Staley’s scheme “night and day” and the “complete opposite” of Bradley’s Cover 3-heavy scheme.
“I feel very comfortable,” Harris said. “I’m able to be that extra quarterback back there for these guys.”
Harris said he and Derwin James have both been practicing at three different positions.
“Me and him are kind of like the position-less players,” Harris said. “Just DBs.”
Reading between the lines, I would expect Harris’ three positions to be outside corner, nickel corner (or Star, as Staley calls it) and dime backer (or Money). I would expect James’ three positions to be strong safety, Star and Money. One thing to remember: Staley is going to have a lot of different players defend the slot depending on the situation. This is one way he keeps his defense multiple and disrupts opposing quarterbacks.
Interesting comments on new offense
Cook said Lombardi’s offense has about 30 to 40 percent of overlap with Sean Payton’s Saints system.
“But, there is a lot of new terminology,” he added.” There are different plays and different positions and ways to get different guys that ball. Different nuances on certain plays that we didn’t run in the past that we’ve added a new glitch to that I think works out better on a lot of different plays. Some of it is carry-over, but it’s just a new offense completely.”
Based on what I have heard from coaches and players, it seems the passing offense is going to be most similar to what the Saints run. They are also going to adopt Payton’s strategy of using a wide variety of formations and personnel groupings to attack specific defensive personnel and keep defenses honest. (For more on those specifics, read this breakdown.)
The run game, though, will more closely resemble the Kyle Shanahan system in San Francisco, which, at its core, features zone blocking schemes, specifically wide zone. Linsley is familiar with this run scheme from his time in Green Bay. Packers coach Matt LaFleur comes from the same coaching tree. Kyle Shanahan and LaFleur both coached under Mike Shanahan while in Washington in 2012.
“A lot of the same stuff that we ran in Green Bay,” Linsley said. “There’s a lot of carry-over.”
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