Official 2026 Chargers News | Acquisitions | Transactions | Injuries

[DerwinBosa]

And how many hard questions are ever answered? Harbaugh is simply not going to ever trash a player, a coach or anyone in the organization during a press conference. He is never going to give the slightest insight into any injury update. Popper asking those questions over and over again seems much more about "look at me" than accomplishing anything other than annoying people. He is thin skinned and regularly boots people out of streams or blocks them on social media if they question anything he says. Sadly, there are very few other options. I really liked a guy like Michael Gherkin when he covered the team where we got insight and no BS.

With the way you rightly described it, I think Popper may be auditioning for a better job with more of a spotlight. Maybe he thinks that acting like an asshole will get him to ESPN or FOX Sports. I thought he was acting that way during the Staley era because, really, how else is a beat reporter supposed to act when a head coach is behaving so ridiculously the way Staley was? But now I've seen Popper act that way unnecessarily with Hortiz and Harbaugh when it's clear they're not going to answer certain questions. I've seen press conferences in which New England Patriots beat reporters acted much more professionally when they had to deal with Belichick, who was probably most difficult coach for the press to communicate with in NFL history.

I also liked Ghelken. He left to cover the Raiders after we moved from San Diego. Then he moved on to the Dallas Morning News to cover the Cowboys. I just read that he's no longer an NFL beat writer and is now in public relations. He was a good one.

[Lone Bolt]

Oweh has made some plays. 4 sacks in 4 games

Penning is a bit more than just a body. He started 17 games last year at RT. Started the past 6 games at LG.
Adding a starting OL now for the 2027 6th Rd pick. Are they going to find a starting OL in Rd 6? Probably not.

Also for Penning this is the best QB he will be blocking for in his NFL career and it isn't even close. Could he benefit from working in front of a much better QB? Maybe.

Agreed...Im not banking on him being all pro...but new scenery, new scheme...maybe he ends up being "adequate"...which, sadly, would be great!

Hell...at the worst, he is gonna be better than the next pizza delivery guy, or cell phone sales associate we call up...

Best case? A Tart/Molden like reclaimation that nets us a solid piece now, and maybe going forward.

[DerwinBosa]

Oweh has made some plays. 4 sacks in 4 games

Penning is a bit more than just a body. He started 17 games last year at RT. Started the past 6 games at LG.
Adding a starting OL now for the 2027 6th Rd pick. Are they going to find a starting OL in Rd 6? Probably not.

Also for Penning this is the best QB he will be blocking for in his NFL career and it isn't even close. Could he benefit from working in front of a much better QB? Maybe.

I'll say that's not bad work for Hortiz, whom some think has refused to pick up his phone.

[sonorajim]

Offer me a name of more detailed and better beat writer

What's a beat writer?

I read Chargers.com and The Powderblues. com. PBs has some reprints of writer opinions which I take with a grain of salt.
Popper making an apparent statement of fact that Ja'Sir was our "best special teams player" was simply arrogant and annoying.
Ja was good but hardly special. I like actual statements of fact, such as "The Chargers have traded for Trevor Penning" when they become available.
I get all the opinions I need here.

[richpjr]

I only read Poppers tweets. Only listened to hid Youtube thingy a few times. None recently. I like that he askes Harbaugh the questions we would ask even if he gets met with no real answer lol.

His tweets are the best thing about him.

[CanadianBoltFan]

Popper is ok. He asks stuff we would like to ask a lot of the time, which I appreciate. And I am ok with him not being a homer. My annoyance with him is that rather than ask a question a lot of the time he puts out his hypothesis as if he is writing an article during the press conference. Sometimes Harbaugh or whoever is up there will just stare blankly at him and ask if he has a question. He also seems to want to demonstrate how much he knows vs asking the question.

There is some truth to that.

Popper isnt perfect, it is even fair to say he has some annoying traits...but he writes good articles and puts more time and effort into his research than anyone else covering the Chargers

[CanadianBoltFan]

he was right on the o-line, but most people who follow the team said the same thing, so it did not add to our knowledge. some of his articles that have been posted here have been good, but i think he could be more productive if he had a better attitude. i doubt last night's tweet will be received well by Hortiz/Harbaugh - he could have chosen better words ("what does this mean for special teams" etc.). i don't mind him being critical of the team, but don't sound like some crabby guy from here. if trading Taylor really was a necessary move purely to fix the cap, then there is going to be some bit of "no pain/no gain" involved.

i would probably dislike him less if i did not hear his podcasts (or his injury questions), but again, he is a guy that is going to (sometimes) have more information that us, so i tune in to see what he's got.

i am not saying to not read his articles (he's all we've got), but it would be great if he grew up a bit.

Not completely unfair that Popper can grow up a bit in some ways. I also agree that he made a bit more than necessary on the departure of Taylor.

The Chargers special teams are completely embarrassing though and someone needs to hold these coaches accountable

[CanadianBoltFan]

And how many hard questions are ever answered? Harbaugh is simply not going to ever trash a player, a coach or anyone in the organization during a press conference. He is never going to give the slightest insight into any injury update. Popper asking those questions over and over again seems much more about "look at me" than accomplishing anything other than annoying people. He is thin skinned and regularly boots people out of streams or blocks them on social media if they question anything he says. Sadly, there are very few other options. I really liked a guy like Michael Gherkin when he covered the team where we got insight and no BS.

You are right, Harbaugh doesn't really provide any decent answers...just a bunch of schtick that is getting old if it hasn't already.

It is still a journalist's job to ask the questions though.

Interesting though, both Minter and Roman pressers are not a waste of time and way, way more informative than Harbaugh. Popper has a pretty good rapport with them and gets them to share all kinds of interesting tidbits.

[sonorajim]

Not completely unfair that Popper can grow up a bit in some ways. I also agree that he made a bit more than necessary on the departure of Taylor.

The Chargers special teams are completely embarrassing though and someone needs to hold these coaches accountable

"Completely embarrassing"? Hardly. Dicker may be NFL best. Scott is very good. I'm guessing that you are referring to the kick return coverage that allowed a TD. That did indeed suck. Harbaugh admitted that he saw the need for improvement and that will be a focus point moving forward.

[CanadianBoltFan]

"Completely embarrassing"? Hardly. Dicker may be NFL best. Scott is very good. I'm guessing that you are referring to the kick return coverage that allowed a TD. That did indeed suck. Harbaugh admitted that he saw the need for improvement and that will be a focus point moving forward.

Dicker is awesome. Scott is ok. It ends there

In case you don't see it on game day when we never get a decent return while allowing the other team great field position every kick...do some research. The Chargers are dead last in kick returns and coverage.

[sonorajim]

You are right, Harbaugh doesn't really provide any decent answers...just a bunch of schtick that is getting old if it hasn't already.

It is still a journalist's job to ask the questions though.

Interesting though, both Minter and Roman pressers are not a waste of time and way, way more informative than Harbaugh. Popper has a pretty good rapport with them and gets them to share all kinds of interesting tidbits.

Don't ask Harbaugh about player injuries. How many times do you want to hear "He's working through something"?
He won't discuss strategies for the next game. IMO a serious journalist would find questions that stimulate Harbaugh's penchant for telling stories and have a little fun with it.Friendly fire might score a hit occasionally.
We did get Omarion will have his window to return open after the bye.

[CanadianBoltFan]

Don't ask Harbaugh about player injuries. How many times do you want to hear "He's working through something"?
He won't discuss strategies for the next game. IMO a serious journalist would find questions that stimulate Harbaugh's penchant for telling stories and have a little fun with it.Friendly fire might score a hit occasionally.
We did get Omarion will have his window to return open after the bye.

Agreed on the injury questions, complete waste of time. Same with strategy. Popper does ask him about stories as well though.

To me, Harbaugh pressers are pretty much a waste of time and i skip many of them now. Amusing for a while, and then just kind of tiring. Roman and Minter I look forward to each week.

I get and respect that he backs his players and will always praise his players no matter what. He could tone down some of it though. Build up Herbert's confidence sure, but I think his constant over the top hero worship of Herbert isn doing Justin any favors in league circles. It just gets laughed at and adds lots of fuel to the tedious league wide Herbert debate if he is elite or not that never ends. It just brings the critics out more when you are already talking about HOF before a QB has won anything.