Anthony Lynn is never one to mince words.
True to form, the head coach didn't hold back in his postgame press conference after a 26-24 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles dropped the Chargers to 0-4 on the year.
Lynn didn't have all the answers after the game.
However, he vowed to take a long look in the mirror when determining how the team proceeds. That includes an honest evaluation of what the team has in place.
For instance, he was asked if the Bolts have the pieces to be a physical football team.
"I don't know that yet," he said. "We feel like we have some physical pieces, but we will see if the scheme fits what we have right now (on the roster)."
How about the running game?
"Very frustrating. We are not there yet…I am not happy with (our physicality) because we haven't won yet. I know what I saw on the field today, and it wasn't just the offensive line. It was the running backs, tight ends, receivers – everybody is involved in the running game. It is not just on the (offensive) line."
One area the head coach was pleased with was the effort on both sides of the ball. However, effort can only take you so far.
"Absolutely the effort is there," he said. "It is not the effort (that's the reason we're losing). We wouldn't be in these games if the effort wasn't there. We just have to do the little things right to win these close games."
"I've never questioned that," echoed a frustrated Philip Rivers. "Again, this team is still growing together, but I don't think there's any lack of fight, want-to or desire to care. That's never been a problem here. I don't sense that it is at this point in time. Guys are fighting, scratching like crazy. We just haven't been able to overcome it yet."
It's understandable that emotions ran over after the latest loss. It's been a frustrating month to say the least, as the team never envisioned this type of start to the 2017 campaign.
"This is the first quarter (of our season) and we really stunk it up," said Hunter Henry. "We are 0-4 and we have a phase down, but we have 12 games left. We have to continue to work."
Meanwhile, Rivers doesn't pay much mind to the "one quarter down, three to go" mantra. His focus is only on the next week rather than what the team must do over the next 12.
So, what are the next steps for the Bolts as they look to right the ship?
"I am going to go back and evaluate the film, and I am going to analyze that first before I decide what we are going to do," Lynn said. "I don't want to make any emotional decisions right now…We just need to tweak a few things. We have to get more consistency with our offense. This bend but don't break on defense, that's got to change. We haven't made a play on special teams to help us win a game yet."
