2019 Training Camp Thread

[chargerfreak]

Private lender SoFi is expected to pay roughly $400 million over 20 years to put its name on the new stadium that the Rams and Chargers will share in Inglewood, California.

[sonorajim]

Glad to see Detrez back. Kyzir White looks impressive in the LB group. I thought he might look out of position. Apparently not. Can't wait to see him vs LAR/NO and preseason.

[frozendisc]

Have not heard a peep about Tillery.......anyone have anything?

[joemcrugby]

Jul 30, 2019 10:55:50 GMT -7 frozendisc said:

Have not heard a peep about Tillery.......anyone have anything?

Just this from Eric Williams along with Whis' quote yesterday. 

We'll get a gauge in the Rams & Saints joint practices and exhibition games. I'll be eyeballing him at two of the joint practices with the Saints on Wednesday 8/14 & Thursday 8/15.

[joemcrugby]

Ek getting some air.

[joemcrugby]

[xenos]

Jul 30, 2019 12:03:00 GMT -7 joemcrugby said:

There was always concern that this shoulder injury wouldn't heal by training camp. Luckily he plays an easier position mentally than something like receiver or OL.

[xenos]

Forrest Lamp press conference:

www.facebook.com/chargers/videos/431356510799686/?notif_id=1564512391821966&notif_t=live_video

[xenos]

Daniel Popper's training camp battle: free safties

theathletic.com/1105115/2019/07/29/training-camp-battles-three-contenders-vying-for-the-chargers-starting-free-safety-job/

Welcome to the the first installment of Training Camp Battles. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be going in-depth on all the major position competitions at Chargers camp — looking at possible options and analyzing in which direction the coaching staff might go. Today, we begin with free safety.

COSTA MESA, Calif. — The outset of each Chargers training camp practice follows a similar routine — team stretch followed by a special teams period. Then a horn sounds and the position groups head to their designated areas on the three grass fields at the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex for individual drills.

The defensive backs occupy the front third of the field, closest to the bleachers where fans can sit and observe practice. And before they start to work, the DBs run through a ritual. Each player in the group completes a unique handshake with every one of his teammates. It’s quite the process, a web of blue jerseys moving about, hands slapping, fists bumping. When it’s done, the players who call themselves the “Jack Boys” form into lines and commence that day’s drill at the direction of position coach Ron Milus.

“It’s a fun group to be around,” safety Rayshawn Jenkins said. “It’s a high-energy group.”

“You just got to show each other that you care, because that carries over to the game,” Jenkins added. “We all friends at the end of the day, so we try to just show each other that.”

Amid that palpable camaraderie, though, brews one of the fiercest position battles in Chargers camp, and one that likely won’t be decided until late August: free safety.

Jahleel Addae started all 16 regular-season games alongside All-Pro strong safety Derwin James last season, but the Chargers released Addae, the former undrafted free agent, in March, creating an open starting spot.

There are three contenders as it stands now, all of whom are exciting options for defensive coordinator Gus Bradley: Jenkins, Jaylen Watkins and rookie second-round pick Nasir Adderley.

Jenkins has been taking virtually all the first-team reps at free safety through the first five practices, and that’s largely a function of his development late last season.

Jenkins, a fourth-round pick out of Miami in 2017, earned his first NFL start in Week 17 at Denver last year, at nickel corner. Then he started both of the Chargers’ playoff games at free safety. (It’s worth noting that the Chargers started seven defensive backs in both of those contests because of injuries at linebacker, but it was Jenkins who started at free safety.)

“I’m just really carrying my momentum I had over last season and OTAs,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins totaled 13 tackles in the two postseason games, including nine in the season-ending loss at New England.

“Those game reps, they’re everything, man,” Jenkins said. “There’s nothing like getting real, live game reps. It makes you more comfortable. It boosts your confidence. And that’s what’s helping me carry my game into this next phase.”

Bradley said the Chargers initially struggled to determine which position Jenkins would play. He started his career at strong safety in 2017 before shifting to dime linebacker last season. That position switch mandated he increase his weight from 215 pounds to 220. But then he emerged as a potential option at free safety late in the season and was “a little heavy” for that role, according to Bradley.

“Now, we locked him into free safety and his weight is right around 200,” Bradley said of Jenkins. “It’s been good for him, that transition. He’s kind of locked into it, like, ‘Here’s my position and here’s what I’m competing for.’ He has really changed his body in a good way and his explosiveness. That’s required out of that position, so give him credit.”

With Jenkins standing 6-foot-1 and James at 6-2, their potential pairing on the back end would bring even more size to a defense teeming with freakish athleticism.

“I would definitely say that we’re two of the most athletic guys in the league,” Jenkins said of himself and James. “You kind of don’t get that on every team.”

Watkins will provide stiff competition in this training camp battle, though. And at this early stage of camp, with Adderley still learning the ins and outs of the NFL, Watkins is No. 2 on the depth chart.

The Chargers signed Watkins to a one-year deal last offseason, after the former Florida Gator spent the previous two seasons with the Eagles learning and watching under Pro Bowl safety Malcolm Jenkins and his partner, Rodney McLeod.

“This was my opportunity to put what I learned out there,” Watkins remembered thinking heading into last summer’s training camp.

But in the Chargers’ second preseason game, at home against the Seahawks, a freak play abruptly paused those dreams. Late in the second quarter, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson took a shotgun snap and dropped back. Defensive end Melvin Ingram rushed off the left edge and flushed Wilson up in the pocket. Watkins blitzed off the right edge and engaged with Seahawks running back Mike Davis.

Wilson tried to step up but was eventually corralled by Chargers lineman Isaac Rochell and dropped for a sack. Ingram was still in pursuit and lost his balance as Rochell tackled Wilson, falling forward. Ingram’s helmet surged directly into the side of Watkins’ right knee.

Torn ACL. Done for the season.

Jaylen Watkins’ 2018 season ended in the preseason with a major knee injury. (Jake Roth / USA Today)

“Just boom, out of nowhere,” Watkins said. “You’d never think that as a safety you would tear an ACL from a blow. I do everything to take care of my body, so the hit kind of really took a toll on me.”

The injury was even tougher to digest for Watkins given the progress he’d made in camp.

“Watkins may have been our starting free safety last year if he had stayed healthy,” coach Anthony Lynn revealed last week.

But the Chargers saw promise in Watkins, and they decided to re-sign him to a one-year deal in February, while he was still in the midst of rehabbing alongside tight end Hunter Henry, who also tore his ACL in practice last spring.

“Obviously, they believed in me,” Watkins said.

Despite these two viable options, the Chargers drafted Adderley with the 60th overall pick in the second round in April. Adderley — a notorious ballhawk at Delaware who hauled in 10 picks during his college career — was one of the top safeties in the 2019 class and one of the few elite prospects who projected as an NFL free safety.

The Chargers aren’t making rookies available to the media just yet, letting the greenhorns get acclimated to NFL life first. But Adderley’s teammates and coaches provided an early scouting report.

James: “He’s going to be a really special player.”

Lynn: “We’re working him in. … When preseason games come around, those guys will get a lot of reps and move up and down the depth chart. We’ll see who makes the plays.”

Bradley: “He’s been doing a good job. You (saw) him back here today, he made a couple of good plays and then (there was) one that he has to learn from. It’s like back and forth, but more good than bad. I think it’s a whole new system compared to what he had in college and a whole new position. There are some growing pains right there, but the progress that he’s making at this point, we’re pleased.”

On Saturday, Adderley was matched up on the outside with rookie receiver Jason Moore, who ran a go route down the left sideline. The throw arrived with little separation between the two. Moore rose up and got both hands on the ball, but Adderley jumped with him and jarred the ball loose. Of course, he received high fives from his fellow defensive backs.

On Sunday, Adderley was beaten badly on a slant route by Artavis Scott.

These ups and downs are to be expected of rookies. Not every player is James, who emerged as one of the top defensive players in the league just a few games into his debut season.

Will Adderley progress enough to earn the starting spot? Will a healthy Watkins return to take the job that was almost his last August? Or will Jenkins keep building on his momentum to form a big-bodied, athletic safety tandem with James?

Stay tuned.

“That’s a pretty good competition back there,” Lynn said.

[chargerfreak]

I would do RB by committee. Ekeler gets a lot no matter what---even with Gordon in. Justin Jackson filled in last year. Let him go 4 games, Newsome 3 games, Jackson back etc.

See who is hot at the midway point and get them more work.

(its MY Newsome's chance !!!)

[sonorajim]

Jul 30, 2019 13:11:10 GMT -7 chargerfreak said:

I would do RB by committee. Ekeler gets a lot no matter what---even with Gordon in. Justin Jackson filled in last year. Let him go 4 games, Newsome 3 games, Jackson back etc.

See who is hot at the midway point and get them more work.

(its MY Newsome's chance !!!)

Our Newsome!

I'd keep Ek in his lane, same as if MG were starting. Alternate JJ & DN no special order. If one gets hot, feed the flame.

[Chargeroo]

I'd sign MG.

[joemcrugby]

[NoMoreChillies]

getting a little thirsty down under,
thx for helping me quench it brochachos

keep up the vids, i'm loving it

[joemcrugby]

Jones "most improved" on the Chargers - There's been a notable difference in defensive tackle Justin Jones entering his second NFL season, both on and off the field.

Jones said on Monday's episode of Chargers Weekly that he was 316 pounds at the start of organized team activities his rookie season. He reported to his second training camp at 295 pounds.

Jones attributed the change to an offseason diet that eliminates beef and pork, and increases his consumption of fruits and vegetables. After Tuesday's practice, Pouncey called Jones a "totally different football player."

"He's a guy that's probably our most improved football player from year one to year two, and you can tell," Pouncey said. "He's out here making plays every day, and if he can play like that the whole year, our defense is going to be really, really good."

The former NC State standout has a new Wolfpack in Los Angeles. Jones said he's made a concerted effort to tap into the experience in the defensive line room, which includes Pro Bowlers Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, a Super Bowl champion in Brandon Mebane, and seven-year veteran Damion Square.

"There's too much - too much - too much knowledge in the room not to take advantage of it," Jones said. "And that's the biggest thing, having guys like Square and Mebane and Melvin and guys like that in the room. They've played so much ball, [guys] who've seen so many different types of adversity and just handled it just like a vet would.

"I need all of that. I want to know all of that."

"This guy's a good person first of all," Square said of Jones. "He's a player that kind of takes in everything from the vets - a real respectable guy. I'm just really high on his future."

www.chargers.com/news/five-takeaways-from-day-6-of-chargers-camp-getting-ready-for-the-rams