2019 TRAINING CAMP MEDIA AVAILABILITY Thursday, Aug
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2019 TRAINING CAMP MEDIA AVAILABILITY Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019 | Jack Hammett Sports Complex | Costa Mesa, Calif. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN Opening statement: “That was a good-spirited practice this afternoon. We got some good work in. It got a little chippy for a little while, but you know, it’s football. Both teams were professional. I liked the way we performed today and in certain situations, but there were too many flags on the ground. It was good work, it’s always a pleasure to go up against a team like the Saints. They’re one of the better teams in the NFC and they have an outstanding coaching staff — so the coaches are challenged, the players are challenged, everyone’s challenged, so I think we got better today.” On practices with NFC Championship game teams: “If you want to evaluate yourself and see where you are, it’s good competition. That’s what I tell the guys.” On WR Keenan Allen: “He was a little sore.” On if Allen will be okay for Sunday: “I’m sure if he was playing on Sunday, yeah I’m sure he would.” On if QB Philip Rivers will play on Sunday: “We haven’t talked about who’s playing and who’s not playing yet, but we will see.” On evaluation of the team: “I love the situational football because that’s how you play the game, in situations. I like to see our schemes, our philosophy against other [teams]. We’ve gone up against two pretty good organizations, so we’ve had a good chance to look at some things we are doing and make some adjustments.” On building off previous seasons: “I think every year is a different year. Once we start playing real football games, we’ll see exactly where we are. If you look at our schedule early on, we are going to be challenged.” On S Nasir Adderley: “I don’t want to put a timetable on it, but he’s working hard every single day, I can tell you that. He’s trying to get back on the field to be with his teammates. “You have to be patient with those soft tissue injuries, but yeah I would like to see him out here. This training camp is very valuable.” On players who have impressed you: “[LB] Uchenna [Nwosu] had a pretty good day today. I liked the way he worked last Monday night and today. I think with these joint practices, some of these guys, they see it as an opportunity and he’s taking advantage of it. On LB Uchenna Nwosu: “He can play [defensive end], he can play outside linebacker and he’s playing on special teams.” On giving the first-team more reps in joint practices: “I like getting the starters a lot of reps in these scrimmages because it’s a controlled environment. I think you do see a lot more teams doing this. “We did this back when I was playing, back in the early 1990s, so it’s been around for a while. I like the way our players are handling the situation.” On the defense: “I love the way they ended the two-minute period today. We talk about situational football, if there wasn’t an interception by [S Derwin] D.J. [James Jr.], their player would have scored a touchdown.” On RB Melvin Gordon III: “I haven’t spoken to Melvin in a while. “He’s a pro’s pro. Whenever he reports, I’m sure he’ll be ready. “There’s always drawbacks when you’re not here practicing with your teammates and getting better each and every day. I wouldn’t expect him to walk right back in and pick up where he left off. I don’t expect that at all. “It’s hard for me to appreciate it because I want him here. You know? When I was in his shoes, I could appreciate it. I do understand, it’s business. It’ll work itself out.” On if joint practices or preseason games are more beneficial: “You know what, both. Like I said, these joint practices you get some full-speed reps. In preseason games, it’s what you practice for when we go play in games. So, I think that both are really valuable.” On if T Trent Scott is ready to start Week 1: “He has no choice.” On other options on the offensive line: “Well, we drafted [T] Trey [Pipkins III]. Trey’s been a swing tackle, working right and left. He’s coming along.” On the tackles: “They’ve taken a lot of reps. They’ve grown. Their growth this camp. You can see it just in the games in the communication with the other linemen, which is important to get them in there. They played a lot of snaps last week. I’m going to cut back a little bit this week, but they’ll get a few.” On moving linemen around: “You know, it’s hard to go from inside to outside but [G] Forrest Lamp played outside in college. We know that he can go out in a pinch. At some point, we’re going to start working him outside a little bit.” On players getting chippy in joint practices: “Oh, no question. You don’t want things to get out of hand, but football’s an emotional game and guys are really passionate about it. It doesn’t surprise me when it happens.” On giving veterans time off: “I look at guys — I have a plus-nine rule. Guys that are plus-nine [years of experience], they get more days off. They get more time off. We really watch and monitor their reps. They’ve been in a lot of NFL training camps. They’ve proven they can play on this level, but I tell them like everyone else, ‘You’ve got to show that you can still do it.’ They have no problem with that.” On veterans wanting to forgo time off: ”Well, in the past we’ve kind of admired that and let the player come out and practice, but now I think I have to do a better job protecting the player from himself.” On the motivation for his time-off policy: “No, I think it’s more of a personal thing. I think each player — it takes a certain amount of reps to get them ready to play Week 1. We have to figure out what that is for each individual.” On G/T Michael Schofield III: “Michael’s doing a fine job at right guard. I wouldn’t say that he’s set because there’s a competition going on there, but he’s doing a fine job.” On G Dan Feeney: “It’s a rotation with Feeney, it’s a rotation with Michael [Schofield]. We’re still looking. We have three more preseason games. We have a lot of time left. We’re going to let this thing play itself out.” On LB Denzel Perryman: “Denzel’s moving around better. The first 10 practices, I couldn’t say that, but he’s gotten better. I think he’s getting used to playing with the knee and the knee brace.” On CB Trevor Williams’ rehabilitation: “Everybody’s different. Yeah, it’s longer than I thought, but like I said, everyone’s different.” On the defense’s celebrations: “Well, they may be working on the timing of their celebrations because all they get is 40 seconds. If we get delay of game because of celebrations, it’s going to be a problem.” LOS ANGELES CHARGERS QUARTERBACK PHILIP RIVERS On the joint practice: “It was good. There are a lot of things to correct, that’s for sure. It’s a good team, as we know coming off the season that they had last year. There are plenty of things for us to clean up. We made our fair share of plays, but there are plenty of areas to get things corrected, which is to be expected. It’s the middle of training camp, going against a good football team. There’s certainly a lot of room to improve.” On which team won the quarterback challenge: “We got them day one, really thanks to Cardale’s [Jones] unbelievable showing. We got them day one, but they pick the challenge for day two. Then, whatever happens, we’re going to make it all win-or-go home on day three, probably. It was a good start.” On the quarterback challenge: “The practices are great and the [challenge], certainly, with those guys — [Saints QBs] Drew [Brees], Teddy [Bridgewater] and Taysom [Hill] over there. They mixed in [G] Larry [Warford], one of their offensive linemen. It’s always great. It’s always fun to see Drew and see all of those guys — but to see Drew, we were just telling stories from 15 years ago. It’s crazy how time flies. It’s cool going against those guys, and we get a lot of different looks, defensively. From a practice standpoint, it’s great work for us.” On WR Travis Benjamin: “Last year, first of all, he was hurt some. Then, he was sprinkled in a little bit — in-and-out with [WR] Tyrell [Williams], [WR] Mike [Williams] and [WR] Keenan [Allen] with Mike coming on the way he did last year. With Tyrell gone, Travis may be asked to be on the field more. We’ll see how that all plays out. He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.