There was a different buzz in the air Monday in El Segundo when the Chargers entered the building.
It's officially game week.
"Every day counts, every week counts, but now it's like for real, for real," linebacker Denzel Perryman said Monday in the locker room. "The season is here, what we've been working for this whole offseason is here."
Center Bradley Bozeman added: "I told my wife yesterday, 'It's finally here, it's game week.' Ready for it, it's exciting."
The Bolts held a short, non-padded practice Monday as the team now narrows in on preparation for the Raiders.
After a long offseason of work and preparation to get to this point, defensive lineman Morgan Fox said the team is looking forward to the opening of the regular season.
"It's been a long time without getting ready for a game," Fox said. "We started April 2nd, so now we're getting into a game week, it's truly exciting having a team to look forward to playing against."
Fox later added: "You could definitely feel the energy. People are excited to go hit somebody with a different color helmet. We've been practicing with each other since April, so it's nice to start preparing, not just preparing for everything, but preparing for a different opponent."
Wide receiver Quentin Johnston echoed Fox's sentiments, adding that while the team began looking forward to Week 1 once the preseason finale was over, it was a different feeling heading into the building Monday.
"It was something that's kind of been in the air as soon as the Cowboys game was over to be honest," Johnston said. "Knowing that Week 1 was coming up and around the corner."
"As soon you step in here and you look around like, 'Okay, it's about that time,'" Johnston later added. "Obviously everybody is excited, everybody is ready for it. Been practicing for months and months on end, so I feel like we're ready for it."
Add in the opponent in front of the Chargers to open the season, the excitement was real Monday at The Bolt.
"Everybody came in here like, 'It's that time. It's go time, it's finally here.' Overall, the energy, mood, excitement of the team, everybody is ready to go, fired up," Perryman said. "We know what type of game this is going to be. What better team to open up with."
Perryman later added: "Just to be back here on Monday, [to] open the season, feels great."
