2022 Training Camp Thread

[Charge!]

LOL. I'm sure Chicago would love to have the middle of the Bolt's starting D from last year. That will really improve them.

lol

[Xenos]

COSTA MESA, Calif. — The Chargers held their 15th practice of training camp Wednesday at Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex. It was the first of two joint practices with the Dallas Cowboys.

I spent Wednesday’s practice watching the Chargers’ offense against the Cowboys’ defense. On Thursday, I will focus on the Chargers’ defense against the Cowboys’ offense.

Here are my observations, notes and takeaways.


Derwin James returns
The contract negotiations between the Chargers and Derwin James finally reached a conclusion Wednesday morning, with James agreeing to a four-year extension that makes him the highest-paid safety in NFL history.

There was never any real worry about this deal getting done before the season. Still, the relief for all parties — James, his teammates, coach Brandon Staley — was palpable. James was ecstatic to finally put his pads and helmet on. As he stretched and warmed up with his teammates for the first time in camp, Staley came over to say hello as he made his regular rounds to all his players. He stopped for an extra second to chat with James. Fellow safety Nasir Adderleywas positively giddy as he stretched next to James, smiling from ear to ear for the entire 20-minute acclimation period. Defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill and James shared a laugh as Hill passed him the ball. Hill makes his rounds to all the defensive players to get his guys a touch on the football during stretching.

The players gathered at midfield as they always do before practice. They broke the huddle with a cheer, and James jogged over to Hill and assistant secondary coach Tommy Donatell for individual drills. As James reached the sideline, fans in the stands started chanting his name. He clapped to the crowd and pumped them up. During individual drills, Keenan Allen walked over from where the receivers were gathered and dapped up James, offering congratulations to his good friend and mentee.

After practice, James and his family took a photo with Staley and his family. Then he walked over to speak with the media for the first time since the spring, grateful to make it to this point considering his injury battles in 2019 and 2020.

“Everybody that believed in me in this organization from Day 1, all of the adversity I went through, just thank you to them because they believed in me,” James said. “It wouldn’t have happened without them.”

Said Staley: “This wasn’t like every other big contract that gets signed because you know what he had to go through in order to make it to this point in his pro football career. He overcame a lot to earn this contract, and he earned every cent of it.”

James went through only individual drills before he watched from the sideline for the rest of practice. According to Staley, the plan is for James to stick to individual drills Thursday before getting a workout in ahead of Saturday’s preseason game against the Cowboys. Then James should return to seven-on-seven drills when the Chargers are back at practice Monday.

“We’re going to make sure we ramp him up the right way,” Staley said, “and we’re going to have to hold him back because it won’t be easy.”

James is itching to get back out there.


WR/TE vs. DB 1-on-1s
Now on to the action from Wednesday’s practice. Some highlights from the Chargers wide receivers and tight ends facing off against the Cowboys defensive backs.

• Allen took all three of his reps against Dallas slot corner Jourdan Lewis, and he put on a route-running clinic. On the first rep, Allen won on a double move down the left sideline. Lewis made contact with him, and Allen fell over. A clear penalty for illegal contact. On the second rep, Allen got separation on a crossing route, but Justin Herbert threw behind him, and Lewis recovered for a pass breakup. On the third rep, Allen put some pizzazz on a dig route, shaking Lewis with a head fake before cutting to the inside. He had several yards of separation, but Herbert’s throw was high and it fell incomplete.

• Joshua Palmer had an outstanding period. He has always been a really sharp route runner, but his releases are dramatically improved this season. On his first rep against Dallas corner Anthony Brown, Palmer won on an out-and-up route. Herbert’s throw was short to Palmer’s back shoulder, and Palmer adjusted well to make the catch. On his second rep, Palmer stuttered his feet at the snap and got a clean release off the line against corner Isaac Taylor-Stuart, gaining leverage to the inside. He broke to the middle of the field, and Herbert hit him in stride.

• Mike Williams had two contested battles against Dallas’ top corner, Trevon Diggs. On the first rep, Williams ran a slant, and Diggs dove for an impressive pass breakup. On the second rep, Williams ran a go route, and Herbert tried to hit him on a back shoulder throw. But the timing was off, and the throw bounced incomplete.

• Jalen Guyton showed off his speed on a 45-yard touchdown down the right sideline against Cowboys safety Israel Mukuamu. Guyton ran a straight go route, and Mukaumu just did not have the speed to handle him. Herbert threw a perfect ball into Guyton’s waiting arms. Guyton also won against Brown earlier in the period on an in-breaker. Guyton created separation with an explosive release.

• Michael Bandy continues to shine. He is going to have a really tough time cracking the 53-man roster, but his route running is absolutely NFL quality. He showed some physicality at the top of his route on a catch on a comeback against cornerback Kelvin Joseph. He went up against Joseph again later, and he fooled him with a hesitation double move. Joseph grabbed at Bandy, and the refs threw a flag for illegal contact. On his third rep, Bandy got an inside release against corner Quandre Mosely before breaking to the outside. He angled his break sharply to the sideline to create separation, but Chase Daniel missed him.

• DeAndre Carter won all four of his reps. He got behind Mukuamu on his first route, a corner. Herbert did not put enough on the ball, though, and Mukuamu picked it off. Carter closed out the period by beating Diggs on a double move. It would have been a touchdown if Diggs did not grab hold of Carter’s jersey. This was a blatant flag.

OL vs. DL 1-on-1s
The Chargers offensive linemen faced the Cowboys defensive linemen in pass rush one-on-ones, while the quarterbacks and skill players went through seven-on-seven drills.

Some notable reps …

• Right tackle Trey Pipkins III went up against edge rusher Micah Parsons early in the period. Parsons burst to the outside initially, and Pipkins attacked with his hand to try and push Parsons wide. But Parsons stopped on a dime and cut back inside. Pipkins was off balance, and Parsons had a clear path to the quarterback. Parsons is just a freak athlete. I still am trying to figure out how he changed directions so quickly from the position he was in.

• Overall, Pipkins was up and down in the period. He responded with a stout rep against defensive end Dorance Armstrong, withstanding the initial bull rush before backing up. Armstrong was not expecting Pipkins to give up ground, and he fell over. Later, undrafted rookie Mike Tafua beat Pipkins with a speed move to the outside.

• Storm Norton, who is competing with Pipkins for the starting right tackle job, had good and bad reps, as well. He started with a really impressive rep against defensive end Tarell Basham, locking him up and driving him to the outside. But later in the period, Norton overcommitted on an outside rush from Dante Fowler, who spun back to the inside and had a clear path to the quarterback.

• Rashawn Slater was dominant. His best rep of the period came against star pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence. Lawrence came on a bull rush, and Slater stopped him in his tracks.

• Zion Johnson got only two reps in the period. He went up against defensive end Chauncey Golston on the second rep, and while he lost initially on a swim move, he battled back to force Golston past the quarterback. In a game situation, the quarterback would have likely had time and space to step up.

• Jamaree Salyer won one of his three reps. He showed remarkable strength on his first rep. His hand placement was off, but he was able to use his outside arm to prevent pressure on a rush from Carlos Watkins. Strength and stoutness are the positive parts of Salyer’s game, but he does not move particularly well, and that showed up on his final two reps when he was beaten quickly to the inside by Basham and then Golston.


Protection issues in 11-on-11
There were five periods of 11-on-11 in Wednesday’s practice — one period with only first and second downs, one period with scripted first, second and third downs, one period of live action (with yardages downs and distances being tracked), one period of red zone, and then a two-minute drill.

The Chargers really struggled to protect Herbert throughout 11-on-11s. The pocket was regularly collapsing. I counted eight sacks for the Cowboys defense against the Chargers’ first-team offense. Every starting offensive lineman — including Pipkins and Norton, who traded series at right tackle — got beat at least once.

“When you get these joint practices, especially early in training camp, early in the year, there’s a lot of learning,” running back Austin Ekeler said of the protection issues. “We didn’t know what they were going to come out in, and they showed us some looks today defensively that we weren’t really prepared for. We were kind of figuring it out on the fly.”

The two-minute drill punctuated the issues. The drive started from the minus-30 with 1:42 on the clock. Parsons got pressure against Pipkins, who was in at right tackle for the first-team offense, on the opening play, but Herbert was able to check down to Ekeler for a short gain. On second down, Parsons beat Pipkins for a sack. Facing a third-and-long, Herbert connected with tight end Gerald Everett in the flat to set up a fourth-and-1. Johnson was then called for a false start, backing up the offense 5 yards. Parsons then got to Herbert again on fourth down. This was a clear sack to me. But the coaches opted to continue the drive after Herbert found Palmer, despite Parsons waiting right in Herbert’s lap.

On the ensuing first down, pressure came up the middle, and Herbert threw incomplete. On second down, defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa dominated Pipkins for a sack. That set up a third-and-20. Herbert was able to gain 5 yards back when he drew the Cowboys offside with a hard count — something he did twice in the practice. On third-and-15, the protection held up, but Herbert overthrew Carter on a deep shot.

“They got Micah Parsons out there running around,” Ekeler said. “He’s a problem. They gave us some matchup problems where they got five big D-linemen in the game and him, so it puts our back on him, so it’s a mismatch, especially when you can’t cut out here in practice. A couple times you see me get blasted on the ground because, look, I’m not going to take the knees out in practice, but in the games, it’s going to be a little bit different.”

The Cowboys also ran a ton of stunts and games on the interior, with defensive ends peeling back to the interior. The Chargers struggled to handle those at times. Norton and Johnson got beat on one of those stunts for a sack.

“This is the perfect place to figure it out, and you want to be able to do that,” Staley said. “Some of the unscouted looks, like, hey, yeah you know what Dallas did last year, but maybe they’ve added new things based on new people they have, and that’s part of why these practices are valuable, is so that you can go up against someone else’s personnel and scheme and then test your rules. These aren’t game-planned practices.”



News and notes

• TE Donald Parham Jr., CB Tevaughn Campbell, LB Damon Lloyd, WR Joe Reed and edge rusher Ty Shelby did not practice. Parham, who is dealing with a hamstring strain, is “week to week,” according to Staley. The Chargers are hoping to start phasing him in next week. Lloyd has an ankle injury that is “not serious,” according to Staley. Reed was out because of an illness.

• Staley said LB Kenneth Murray Jr., who is on the physically unable to perform list after offseason ankle surgery, is expected to return to practice Monday, barring any setbacks.

• DL Forrest Merrill had shoulder surgery, according to Staley. He is now on injured reserve.

• Everett, Guyton and Allen all caught third-down touchdown passes during the red zone period with the first-team offense. Carter caught a touchdown in the red zone from Daniel with the second team.

• Easton Stick threw an interception in 11-on-11. Basham batted his pass at the line of scrimmage and hauled in the tipped ball as he was falling to the ground.

• Ekeler, Joshua Kelley, Larry Rountree III and Isaiah Spiller all got reps at running back with the first-team offense.

[Boltjolt]

I'm not saying they will... but they should. I'd like to know how his re-hab went. Is this an injury issue or is this a we-drafted-another-guy issue...?

You cant tell? We drafted another 2 guys issue.
Also if you research Aboushi, he is injury prone and has been his whole career

[Xenos]

You saying Pip and Norton would do better against the same guys? Believe it when I see it.

Apparently Popper is saying that he didn’t do too well today either:

• Jamaree Salyer won one of his three reps. He showed remarkable strength on his first rep. His hand placement was off, but he was able to use his outside arm to prevent pressure on a rush from Carlos Watkins. Strength and stoutness are the positive parts of Salyer’s game, but he does not move particularly well, and that showed up on his final two reps when he was beaten quickly to the inside by Basham and then Golston.

[jamrock]

Sounds like our OL got worked by the cowboys

doesnt bode well for our super bowl run

[Hadl2Alworth]

Sounds like our OL got worked by the cowboys

doesnt bode well for our super bowl run

Sounds like the Cowboys did pretty much what they wanted to against our o-line. That is depressing news since we know how good our divisional opponents will be in that regard. Hopefully we have enough time to correct that - if it's correctable.

[CivilBolt]

You saying Pip and Norton would do better against the same guys? Believe it when I see it.

I see what you did there :chuckle:

[powderblueboy]

Sounds like the Cowboys did pretty much what they wanted to against our o-line. That is depressing news since we know how good our divisional opponents will be in that regard. Hopefully we have enough time to correct that - if it's correctable.

Cowboys were showing new things to the Charger Oline: was Lindsley practicing?
Defenders were pinning their ears back and rushing.

It was a unique situation: hopefully, they get it patched up tomorrow.
They were seemingly fine with one on ones......its more a cohesiveness issue.

I'm not worried about anyone save the two headed monster at RT.

[Fleet 1]

Let us not forget. Also the fact they cant see the issue at RT just low key freaks me out. Im probably not as invested in this camp as i should be and part of it is this desire to stay with sickness. Stay sick at RT. Stay sick with penalties. Im sure other things will unfold as the preseason progresses that will be carbon copies of last year. I dont want to be down on Staley. Ill wait and see what happens. But there is a level of insanity if we continue to think these 2 guys are ok at RT and brushing penalties and bad tackling aside. We will lose games because of it. Staley always talks. Talk talk talk clean operation. Just stop sounding like a genius coach and coach geniusly. I want to see the fruit of it. Not the same fucking rotten apples. Sorry it infuriates me.

I may go Tonya Harding on these 2 guys if they continue to let Herbert get hammered from the right side. Praying Salyer mauls at LG and Feiler can slightly upgrade RT. But man he and Slater have good chemistry. Shit try Salyer at RT.

[gzubeck]

Let us not forget. Also the fact they cant see the issue at RT just low key freaks me out. Im probably not as invested in this camp as i should be and part of it is this desire to stay with sickness. Stay sick at RT. Stay sick with penalties. Im sure other things will unfold as the preseason progresses that will be carbon copies of last year. I dont want to be down on Staley. Ill wait and see what happens. But there is a level of insanity if we continue to think these 2 guys are ok at RT and brushing penalties and bad tackling aside. We will lose games because of it. Staley always talks. Talk talk talk clean operation. Just stop sounding like a genius coach and coach geniusly. I want to see the fruit of it. Not the same fucking rotten apples. Sorry it infuriates me.

I may go Tonya Harding on these 2 guys if they continue to let Herbert get hammered from the right side. Praying Salyer mauls at LG and Feiler can slightly upgrade RT. But man he and Slater have good chemistry. Shit try Salyer at RT.

It's almost like Storm cannot process the fact that guys can move fast and he loses track of players really quick. We'd almost be better if we told Storm to just knock his guy down and forget about creating a pass protect pocket.

:coffee:

[Lone Bolt]

Im not worried. Alot of positive vibes and good feelings in the camp...these guys are walking on air...so maybe some unconscious gamemanship between the offense and defense to date...have not heard anything about fights....but now we are going against another team, and nobody will be pulling punches...just the kind of wake up call/increase in intensity this team needed, and well before opening kickoff. Just relax.

[Boltjolt]

Apparently Popper is saying that he didn’t do too well today either:

This place seems to over hype Salyer and Horvath.