Former Jets and Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan joined Thursday's episode of Chargers Weekly to share his unique perspective on Sunday's matchup in Buffalo.
Among the topics: Anthony Lynn's return to a place where he spent two seasons as assistant head coach/running backs and offensive coordinator (2:00), Ryan's expectations for Los Angeles in 2018 (4:00), the Chargers' running game (5:50) and more. Additional highlights from the interview are below.
What it's like to compete against Philip Rivers:
"He's tough, man (laughter). That's the thing you think of. He kicked my butt all over the place the last time we played, but, you know the thing is: He's smart. He's competitive as hell and those are the things that jump out at you. And he's got a great arm, but at the end of the day we definitely had some battles against him. But you had to be multiple against Philip and try to be creative I thought."
Thoughts on rookie safety Derwin James after having coached Ed Reed:
"Derwin James is a stud, now. Obviously with my son playing at Clemson, (I was) very aware of Derwin James. And even when Jalen Ramsey was there (at Florida State), Derwin James was the best player on the field, so that's the kind of player he is. He's impactful. He's all over the place. He's not Ed Reed, but he's more of these – an intimidator-type hitter. The kid that the Jets drafted (Jamal) Adams and him are very similar. But he's just a phenomenal player. You can put him all over the place, put him in the box in run support, blitz the quarterback with him. He's a pass rusher, a blitzer, a tackler and instinctive. So, they got themselves one heck of a player and when he was still on the board, I knew it was going to take two seconds to turn the card in because he is a legit guy and the Chargers – they recognize players. They do a great job in the draft, and with Derwin James sitting right there, he just fell in the Chargers' lap and it was a no-brainer pick for me."
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