Chargers Blog

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday and the shortened work week, the National Football League granted the Chargers a 24-hour extension in an effort to reach a sellout and lift the local television blackout of this Sunday’s Chargers-Chiefs game. The team now has until 1:05 pm PT on Friday to sell the remaining 3,500 tickets.

Tickets are available now at the Chargers’ ticket office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium, at www.Chargers.com and through TicketMaster at 800-745-3000.

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Posted via email from Chargers Media

The San Diego Chargers signed veteran free agent tackle Jon Runyan today to the active roster.  Runyan replaces starting right tackle Jeromey Clary on the roster after Clary was placed on Reserve-Injured with an ankle injury.

Runyan, who turns 36 on Friday, has been one of the NFL’s premier offensive tackles over the previous 13 seasons.  His career statistics demonstrate a model of consistency and durability.  The past 12 seasons (1997-08), he never missed a regular season or postseason start, totaling 213 straight games (192 consecutive regular season starts and 21 postseason starts). 

“We are very fortunate that a player of Jon’s experience and ability was available at this time,” said Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith.  “He is an outstanding competitor, and I have always admired the physical, nasty approach he brings to the field every game.  He will be added to the mix and we will move forward.”

During his career, Runyan has played in two Super Bowls, including Super Bowl XXXIV with Tennessee following the 1999 season and Super Bowl XXXIX with Philadelphia following the ’04 season; five Championship Games, and the Pro Bowl following the 2002 season.

Runyan, 6-7, 330, played collegiately at Michigan where he was selected in the fourth round (109th overall) in 1996 by the Houston Oilers.  He played for Houston/Tennessee from 1996-99 before joining the Eagles as an unrestricted free agent in 2000.  Runyan started every game for Philadelphia at right tackle from 2000-08.

Posted via email from Chargers Media

(Injury update)
“I’ll give you the best update I can on injuries. Jeromey Clary has a ligament strain. It’s going to be a period of time before he’s able to play. I can’t give you an exact number because we don’t have one. They’re doing all the different tests right now and we’ll know how serious it is over the next couple of days. It’s his left ankle, opposite of the injury he had (last week). Luis Castillo has a strained calf and as we have with these, we’ll see where he is on Wednesday, what he’s able to do. It’ll be a late in the week decision I’m sure, Saturday or Sunday maybe even, if he’s able to play. Shawne Merriman came out and went back in with his foot but our guys feel that he’ll be pretty good, that he’ll be alright. Nick Hardwick I think will again practice some on Wednesday and we’ll just see how he’s progressing. (Brandyn) Dombrowski went in and played right tackle and I would expect that would be what we’ll do Sunday in the game for Clary. I thought Brandyn went in and played pretty well in the situation he was put in.”

(Introductory statement)
“Before I talk about the game, a couple of things that I found interesting, I’ve been coaching in this league a long time in the same division and you start believing some things that have been true. Sometimes you say it and you wonder if it still is true. A couple of the things that I’ve always talked about is how hard it is to play in Kansas City and the talent that Oakland has, particularly on their defensive front and their overall ability. When you go beat a team like that, sometimes people assume, ‘You went to Kansas City and you should beat them because they’re not very good,’ or ‘You beat Oakland because they aren’t (very good).’ Then you turn around and see Kansas City beat Pittsburgh and Oakland beat Cincinnati, two pretty good football teams, then it starts to reconfirm some of the things I believe. Maybe I haven’t lost it completely in terms of understanding completely what this league is all about.”

“From a standpoint of our game, as I said after the game, it’s the most complete game we’ve played. It was nice to be in that situation in the fourth quarter that we’ve talked about. I think Kevin (Acee) asked me last week about the running game. ‘Is that what we want to get out of the running game?’ I said, ‘What I’d love to do is get in a game where we have that type of lead where we can just grind on them and pound and wear someone down. We were able to do that and our offensive line appreciates it and our backs appreciate it and our defense appreciates it. I think that was good. I think you get into games like that by playing great in the kicking game like we did. Obviously we were hurt in the first game against these guys. I thought our coverage was outstanding. You play defense the way we did. We created big plays. We got the sack/fumble at the beginning of the game that changed the game dramatically. We got the fumble down in there (near the goal line), those things do happen. Then offensively, we continue to play better. I think we’ve gotten comfortable with the changes we had to make at the beginning of the season. Scott Mruczkowski has continued to play well. Louis Vasquez has played well at the right guard spot. That combination of things has really helped us.”

(on what the Chargers have proved about the NFL with their turnaround)
“The biggest thing to me is we have a serious situation with Jeromey Clary’s injury. We’re going to have to handle that. (It’s) a combination of how Brandyn plays and how we manage it. After the Oakland game, the opener, we have five of those situations. We had our running back out, we had our right guard out, we had our center out, we had our nose man out and we had a couple other guys that certainly weren’t at full speed and able to play. Then we were trying to bring in new people. That’s a process. It’s not going to happen overnight. I think we can get to where people want us to be. To me it takes everyone believing that we can do that. This has shown and what it should show our players and everyone involved is if you believe in something, you keep doing it over and over and you keep working to get better, then good things can happen for you. We’ve been fortunate. The win in New York was an amazing win. If you can win games like that along the way, you can continue to build momentum.”

(on his awareness of the AFC playoff picture)
“I think when you start getting to this point in the season around Thanksgiving you do, but I do a pretty good job of not falling into that trap. I know this is a hard week to prepare. I know there are teams that handle the Thanksgiving week better than others. I’ve been involved in a number of the Thanksgiving games. Sometimes I think you’re better off playing on Thanksgiving Day because you get right into it. We’ll practice earlier on Thursday. Our guys will be off in the afternoon for Thanksgiving. There’s a lot going on around our team right now with the honoring the Greatest Chargers. A lot of our guys are involved in that. We just came off a big win, so there are a lot of things that could distract us. My focus is going to be on making sure that doesn’t happen.”

(on the challenges involved in maintaining success)
“The best thing about it is that we’re not anywhere near where we can be. We’ve got a lot of young players that I think get better each week. A week ago I thought Marcus McNeill played his best game of the year. He came back and had an equally as good performance. Louis Vasquez missed 2 ½ games so, what’s he, playing in his seventh NFL game? There are a lot of areas where we can just continue to get better. We keep trying to grow from a scheme standpoint. I think some of the things we’re doing with our different guys are helping us get better. We’re finding different ways to get different people the football. We’re finding different ways to use all our talented guys and get them in positions where they can make plays.”

(on Kansas City’s play Sunday being a good reminder for the Chargers)
“A team coming off two big wins like Kansas City is, I think helps our guys. The most important thing for them is to put the film on and when we watch our first game, there are some physical matchups and there are some plays that we made because we were in the right place at the right time. There were some plays that they made. We had some very positive things happen for us in that game. Again, this league is such a one or two play league. The great example is the fumble in the red zone that Denver had. If they score there, it’s a 13-7 game and it’s going to be a barn burner. They didn’t score. We were fortunate on that play and it changed the game completely.”

(on the possibility of Clary being out for the year)
“I think that would be premature, but that is a concern of mine, yes.”

(on his comfort with the depth at offensive tackle)
“It’s crazy how things happen. Dombrowski took all the snaps last week and we were prepared to play with Brandyn. Once Jeromey was able to go Friday, obviously we were going to go that route. It bought a week for Brandyn. He’ll be a week better. He’ll prepare again this week the same way and he’ll be ready to play.”

(on what he likes about Dombrowski)
“He actually played on the left side all preseason. He’s a talented, physical young player. If you would have asked me that question in August, I would have said he’s a year away from playing, but that changes. It changed the first night of the season. He’s handled things extremely well. He gets a lot of help and encouragement from the offensive linemen and he’s just done what we’ve asked him to do.”

(on LaDainian Tomlinson’s health)
“I haven’t talked to LT yet. I think he feels pretty good. He took a pretty good shot in the ribs but I think he’ll be fine by the end of the week.”

(on how his play calling is affected by what running back is in the game)
“I really try not to let it affect it. We’re tied into situational football and what’s happening in the game. We have a pretty good plan in terms of what we’re trying to get done. I don’t put limitations on Darren Sproles. He can do the things we need him to do and he’s a great change of pace guy for LT. I know there are some thoughts that he shouldn’t be in there on 3rd-and-1, but he’s actually a very good short-yardage runner when we block the play properly. The problem we get is when we get too many guys in there he’s obviously not going to move the pile. There’s some thought with Jacob (Hester) and Tolbert with the way they ran yesterday that we can mix them in a little bit in those situations.”

(on how much he’s personally considered Hester and Tolbert as short-yardage runners)
“No question. We talked about it this morning. My first choice obviously is LT. Darren has done a good job with it. He’s been in a couple difficult situations where he had no chance, but both Jacob and Michael Tolbert have a bigger body. They can move the pile a little bit and find a crease and still get some extra yardage I think.”

(on Tolbert’s increased involvement in the offense)
“I think it’s just the way games came up. Against Philadelphia it was a specific play against something that we thought we could be from them in that situation. He and Jacob are almost going 50-50 in terms of snaps. It just happened he was in the game when the play was called. I don’t have a preference. I like them both and they’re both capable of doing the things we need to do. What’s really helped us by playing both of them on offense, they both make great contributions on special teams. That combination, we’re getting the most out of those two guys. Michael has always shown that he’s got great ability with the ball in his hands. I don’t like his dance in the end zone. He’s a little loose down there doing that dance, but if he keeps getting in there I guess we’ve got to keep letting him do it.”

(on Tolbert’s strengths versus those of Hester and vice versa)
“I think they’re very similar. They’re both very, very competitive guys.”

(on his use of trick plays)
“We’re trying. We try to have two or three up every week whether they get called or not. When LT throws the ball, it’s a good thing. When he’s throwing it to Philip and Philip gets to throw it, it’s even a better thing. When you’re throwing to Gates it makes it outstanding.”

(on the play being a reaction to the onside kick Denver tried)
“No, it really wasn’t. It’s something that we wanted to use in that area of the field. We had two drives kind of stall out in that 30-yard line area. We kicked a 48-yard field goal. I thought it gave us a chance to get down inside the 10 and it did. It got us to the two.”

(on how off the field distractions can impact a team)
“The reason I chose not to comment on it, and I will at the right time, is there are some facts being gathered and unfortunately sometimes these reports are correct and sometimes they aren’t. We’re lucky. We have a mature group of guys. We have an intelligent group of guys and we have great leadership. Unfortunately you have these issues. Our guys have done a great job of not letting them distract them from doing what they need to do in terms of football.”

(on what he tells his players in situations like this)
“It starts to me with the NFL. The NFL has done a great job for a number of years now with the rookies with the rookie symposium, with player programs. We try to follow up in terms of everything we can. There are decisions that we all have to make on a daily basis. We try to give our guys as much information as we can.”

(on having his players work Monday)
“We’ve had a couple of Mondays off. I don’t like doing it too many weeks in a row. I know our guys would have loved to have today off, but I thought it was important to get our guys back in. We have a complicated week. There’s a lot going on. There’s a Charger Blood Drive tomorrow that our guys take part in and have forever. It’s a big deal to them. They’ll spend a lot of their day tomorrow there. Obviously we’ve got Thanksgiving. We’ve got a short schedule. Friday there is a Block Party where they’re honoring the Greatest Chargers so I just thought getting in here today, getting started on the week and giving them a plan for what we need to get done this week was important.

(on if he talks to opposing players before games)
“Not a group. I have some guys that I’ve always talked to in a friendly way. Troy Vincent, when we’d try to beat him on a double move route, he’d always look over at me and say, ‘Why are you wasting your time, Norv?’ Never before a game I don’t think.”

(on if he “owns” any guys)
“I don’t own my own kids.”

Posted via email from Chargers Media

This is a pretty amazing video Mike Nowak did over the weekend. 6000+ images. Awesome.

7,300 tickets remain for game Nov. 29;
NFL TV blackout appears imminent

More than 7,300 tickets still need to be sold for the Chargers’ next home game versus the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 29 to lift the local television blackout.  With the large number of tickets still unsold, it appears likely that the game will be blacked out in Southern California.  It would be the first Chargers regular season or postseason game blacked out since Nov. 7, 2004.  Since then, the team has sold enough tickets to lift the NFL’s local blackout of 44 consecutive games.

“It is extremely unlikely that we will sell 1,000 tickets a day for the next seven days,” said Chief Operating Officer Jim Steeg. Chargers games always get the highest overall television rating each week in the San Diego market.  For example, last week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles drew a 32.5 rating and a 60 share.  That means that app. one-third of all households in San Diego were tuned to the game, and 60 percent of all televisions that were on at that time were watching the Chargers.  

The Chargers designated their game against the Chiefs as the team’s 50th Anniversary Weekend at which the recently-chosen “Greatest Chargers” of all-time will be in attendance and introduced.

“That game is sure to be one the fans in attendance will remember for a long time,” Steeg said. Tickets are available now at the Chargers’ ticket office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium, at www.Chargers.com and through TicketMaster at 800-745-3000.

Posted via email from Chargers Media

The Chargers placed linebacker Jyles Tucker on “Reserve-Injured” Wednesday and signed offensive tackle Corey Clark from the practice squad to the active roster. Tucker, a third-year pro out of Wake Forest, suffered an ankle injury in the Chargers’ Week 9 win against the New York Giants. He appeared in seven games this season as a reserve and was inactive for two others.

Clark (6-5, 325) originally joined the Chargers as a seventh-round draft pick in 2008 out of Texas A&M. He was on the active roster for 15 games last season. He was active for two contests as a rookie but did not see any playing time. Clark spent the first 10 weeks of this season on the practice squad.

To take Clark’s place on the practice squad, the Chargers signed offensive tackle Gerald Cadogan. A rookie out of Penn State, Cadogan attended training camp this summer with the Carolina Panthers and recently spent time on the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad.

Posted via email from Chargers Media

Future NFL Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson and Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts were the leading vote-getters among the 53 players and coaches selected as the Greatest Chargers of all time during the team’s 50th Anniversary Season.  More than 400,000 votes were cast online during the popular fan campaign, presented by Pepsi and AT&T.

Read more »

In this week’s Sports Illustrated Poll, 296 NFL players were asked “Which Team Would You Most Like To Play For?”  Most players picked the Dallas Cowboys (11.1%), followed by the San Diego Chargers (8.5%), the Pittsburgh Steelers (7%), the Miami Dolphins (6.6%) and the New England Patriots (5.9%).

(Injury update)
“From an injury standpoint, we really made it through pretty well.  Jeromey Clary left the game in the third quarter with an ankle sprain.  He looked pretty good this morning and I think there’s a chance that by late in the week he’ll be able to participate and has a chance to play in the game.  We’ll see how he progresses.  Travis Johnson has a shoulder and I think it’s a similar situation.  I think he has a chance to play Sunday against the Broncos.  We’ll see how he progresses during the week.  Everywhere else I think we made it through pretty well.  From a standpoint of the guys who have been out, Tim Dobbins, I think we should get him back and I think that would be a plus for us.  Nick (Hardwick) did have a little bit of a setback Wednesday, Thursday morning after he practiced but he’s doing pretty good and we’ll start the process again.  I’m sure he’ll practice Wednesday or Thursday and we’ll see where he’s at.  (Jyles) Tucker I think would be hard for him to be able to play this week, although he is making progress.”

(Opening statement)
From the standpoint of the game, I think it’s the most complete game we’ve played as a total team.  I think things that are showing up, we made great progress in our coverage teams.  That was as big a challenge as we’ve had.  James Holt had an outstanding game.  Getting some of those young guys in has certainly helped us once they’ve gotten the feel for what we’re doing.  (Mike) Tolbert continues to play well.  Jacob Hester continues to play well on special teams, so it’s a good mix.  I think they rose to the challenge of covering those guys and they’re awfully good returners. 

Offensively I think we got done what we wanted to get done against this group.  We protected Philip. We did a good job protecting Philip. He was very sharp.  Obviously 20 of 25, I think they said that’s his career high percentage for a game.  Obviously we got the running game going at a level we’d like to be.  I thought we had a good mix and good rhythm, which was something we needed to do against this group. 

Defensively I was very pleased with what we did.  They were able to get a lot of yards, but their style of offense is based on getting the ball up the field and I thought we contained that pretty well.  The ones they got up the field, we missed a tackle and they got a big play. They hit a seam against a zone blitz, which is always a scary deal.  That was a big play, but obviously the key to the game was the way we played in the red zone.  Our guys just did a great job preparing in the red zone.  We had a good handle on what they like to do down there and we took away the things they do best.  As I said, I thought it was our most complete performance as a team.

(On running game)
I like the mix.  I think we were 50-50, run-pass.  I like getting the explosive plays and I thought we gave LT a chance to get going.  I thought Philip did a good job getting us in and out of the best plays.  Again, in a game like that when you get 27 rushes and end up with 120 yards, I thought that was good.  I think we’re getting to a level that against another opponent, in a game where they’re not keeping the ball as long and we’re getting them off the field, a game like that can turn into 160, 180-yard rushing game.  Obviously each game is different.

(On his response to those saying LaDainian Tomlinson is nearing the end)
“I tell them the same thing I tell you guys: nothing.  It doesn’t matter what I say, what people say.  He breaks off the run in the red zone.  It’s a 20-yard run.  He looked explosive.  He hit a crease.  He was patient.  He did the things he does.  He did have the ankle injury early.  He missed two games.  I think he’s getting into a good rhythm and we’re getting into a better rhythm blocking for him.”

(On the idea of a ‘bend, don’t break defense’)
“I don’t think anyone ever has that approach, and if you do you’re certainly not going to admit it.  They have very dangerous receivers. When they score a lot of points, it’s when those guys make big plays.  The big plays are what got them into the red zone.  They hit the seam, they hit the crossing route where Eric (Weddle) missed the tackle. Those plays are dangerous.  Their biggest plays were screens and seams and they came all against blitz.  They handled the blitz…I think they handled it like we do.  I like it when people blitz us.  I think it gives us a chance to make big plays.  We had a good mix of pressures up front and we had some success in forcing him off his spot, forcing him out of his rhythm, forcing him to make bad throws.  We didn’t get to him (much).  I don’t think going into the game you expect to get to a guy like McNabb because of their style of offense, how experienced he is.  Three or four of the zone blitzes he got the ball out right as his fifth step hit. He hit the hole that we vacated with the blitz.  I was pleased defensively.  We gave up too much yardage underneath and it wasn’t by design.  We preached so hard on the seams and the ball is up the field a couple times.  We carried them too deep and we gave them too much room underneath.”

(On how he heard the news of the Tomlinsons’ pregnancy)
“I don’t know who was aware and who wasn’t aware.  I was aware.  LT was emotional when he found out.  I went over probably 15, 20 minutes later and told him I knew about it.  I said, ‘This is going to be a special day.’  I told him I had a couple suggestions for names if he needed any.  He said he didn’t need any. (laughter)”

(On what his suggestions were)
“Not mine.  I’m still mad at my mom about that. (laughter)”

(On Ron Rivera’s performance this season)
“Ron does a great job along with our defensive staff.  I think the first thing you do when you get a group together is you learn how to use everyone’s input.  I think Ron has done that.  We’ve got good defensive coaches, guys he’s been with. John Pagano he knows extremely well.  You’ve got to use everyone’s input because no one has all the answers and having good people that help you prepare to make the decisions you have to make is critical.  Then I think as we’ve gone along, we understand what our guys do best.  We had a lot of changes on both sides of the ball but the changes we had defensively were dramatic.  That sets you back.  I think Ron has handled that extremely well.  Having to get new guys in, incorporate them to what we’re doing, make sure we don’t ask them to do too much but give them enough to do that gives you a chance to be successful.  With us it starts with defending the run and we’ve gotten a lot better defending the run.  We want to be a pressure group.  We’ve gotten a lot better pressuring.  When we see a team like Philadelphia, we still have some work to do in our coverage stuff.  I can’t say enough about what Steve Gregory has done playing in the slot, but it’s still new to him and every time you go out you can learn.  There are things you see that you haven’t seen before.”

(On Rivera’s adjustment from a four-man front to a three-man)
“I think that’s the process he went through.  John Pagano and his background in 3-4 defenses helped that a great deal.  We incorporate a lot of the four-man stuff in our 3-4 because of our outside linebackers.  We can bring those and bring them both or bring one and kick the front down.  It ends up being really about using your guys and doing what they do best.”

(On the importance of the team’s last two wins)
“The important thing is obviously to keep improving and win as you’re doing that.  When you looked at our schedule, you knew there were certain stretches in our schedule that would be very demanding.  Having New York and Philadelphia back to back, you knew it was going to be a demanding part of it.  The fact that we go to Denver made the stretch look very demanding.  We’ve gotten ourselves playing the type of football we want to play.  We need to build on it and we need a great week of practice to prepare for this game.”

(On feeling “vindicated” from early criticism)
“No, because I knew what we needed to do as a football team.  I knew where we were as a football team.  What we went through in September, I’ve never been through that with a team in terms of the number of guys that were asked to do things that they hadn’t done before and then put it together being a very beat up team playing a group of very physical teams three weeks in a row in Baltimore, Miami and Pittsburgh.  I thought our guys hung in there pretty darn good.  It was rough in Pittsburgh.  It was rough coming back from that but our guys have responded.”

(On Denver’s recent struggles)
“This is a tough league.  They went through the stretch with playing Baltimore and Pittsburgh back to back.  We had a very similar stretch.  There’s obviously no guarantees and I thought they played well in those games through most of the games.  Playing Baltimore in Baltimore is tough and Pittsburgh we know is a good football team.  Washington is a very talented group that is very capable.  They’ve hit a tough stretch, but I know the team we’re getting ready to play is the same team we played on Monday night a little over a month ago and they’re a very good football team.”

(On how Denver is different since they played in San Diego)
“I don’t see them changing dramatically in what they’ve done.  We haven’t gotten into it like we will over the next couple of days and breaking them down and looking at them.  I’ve been able to see a couple of their games on TV.  They’re very active up front on defense.  They’ve got maybe the best secondary in the NFL.  They’re certainly experienced and very talented.  I know they went through a stretch where they didn’t turn the ball over at all and now they’ve had some turnovers.  Those things take their toll.”

(On his history facing Chris Simms)
“I don’t think I’ve coached in a game going against him.  I’ve seen him a lot and he’s very, very accurate.  Their system is to get the ball out quick, so that certainly will help him.  They have very talented players that he’ll be playing with.”

(On the Chargers’ red zone defense)
“I think it’s gotten better, and it’s game to game.  This team, I don’t think they came in with a mindset that they were going to run the ball or they were going to have success running the ball.  They didn’t run the ball or attempt to run the ball a great deal in the red zone.  If you can get a team one dimensional, it helps you a great deal.  Obviously the physical play of the goal line stand, and that was a big part of getting a lead and a big part of playing the way we did, was impressive.  Our defensive line did an outstanding job and Brandon Siler had a big hit down there.  It was very good.”

(On having all his offensive tools in place)
“I think we got into that where we played awfully well at the end of the first season I was here.  We won (eight) games in a row.  To go into Indy and beat them and play the way we did offensively was big.  Like every team in the league has, we’ve had different situations where we’re not at full speed, but we are healthy.  I think our guys have a great understanding of what we’re doing and confidence in what we’re doing.  I just understand this league and know that there are certain guys that can make it look easier than it is, but there’s nothing easy about this league and there’s nothing easy about playing any week.  I appreciate what our guys do when they go out and play at their best and play at a high level because they know how hard it is to.”

(On the rhythm he found Sunday in calling plays)
“Play calling, I just happen to think it’s so overrated.  We have a plan that we put together during the week and I rely on our coaches.  We’ve got excellent offensive coaches.  They’ve got good ideas.  We try to figure out how we’re going to get each of our best players, our playmakers, involved.  We try to gear it to what is best suited from a protection standpoint, what we can do in the running game that fits us the best so we’re not asking guys to do things that they can’t do.  We put a plan together and have a pretty good idea what we want to do going into the game.  Our plan is always flexible enough that if we’re getting something dramatically different we’re going to change it.  I think during the game and we’re calling plays, I get more caught up in watching guys do what they do and watching Gates play the way he played yesterday.  He’s such a good football player and such a good person and knows how to play that position so well.  I think that’s the thing that you can get caught up in doing.  Malcom going down the sideline and making the catch he did.  Those guys are the guys who are playing.  Those are the guys who are making the plays that decide the games.  We’re just trying to get them in the best position to do that.”

(On how he projected Philip Rivers when he first met him)
“I first met him at the Combine in an interview at the workouts at Indianapolis.  Having been on the East Coast and seeing a lot of (NC State) games live on TV and all that, there wasn’t any question in my mind that he would be as good as you’re allowed to get.  At that position, you don’t play great if you don’t have people playing at a high level around you.  He’s fortunate to have the people playing around him that he does; they’re fortunate to have him.  I think he makes people around him better because of his approach to the game.  He doesn’t have any limitations in terms of playing quarterback.  He doesn’t sometimes run quite as fast as you’d like but I don’t know that that’s going to be the difference for us.”

(On Rivers’ intangibles)
“I think when you sat down and talked to him…his background, his work ethic, talk to him about his father and coaching, how much he appreciates coaching and how he understands how important it is to his livelihood and future.  To me it’s really been forgotten, but the guy had surgery in February and played in August.  He played in the preseason, played 16 games.  He had as dramatic surgery as any of the guys that have come back and played.  Some of them it’s taken longer than others, but for him to do that, it’s really incredible.”

Posted via web from Chargers Media

• Postgame notes from today's Chargers-Eagles game at Qualcomm Stadium
  Postgame Notes SAN DIEGO CHARGERS vs. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES Qualcomm Stadium (70,000)
  (tags: chargers eagles newsrelease)