Sanjay Lal is going to tell it like it is.

And while the Chargers wide receivers coach might be blunt, he also has a way of getting the best out of his players.

We recently chatted with Lal about joining Jim Harbaugh's staff, his coaching style and what he sees from the Bolts young receivers.

Here is our Coaches' Corner with Lal:

Thanks for your time, Sanjay. How has your first season in Los Angeles been?

"Good! A lot of growth by the receiver group. My focus has been: how good can we get every day? How much can we improve? Then the by-product of that is the better we are, the more plays will be made on Sunday and that'll lead to wins."

For fans that don't know you that well, how would you describe your coaching style?

"Demanding. Very detailed. I won't let anything slide and that's clearly defined to the players, the why of what we're doing. I will tell it like it is, even if it involves pushback at times. But at the end of the day, you are going to be way better. If you do the drills and listen and buy in, you will improve 100 percent."

Now that we're in the final month of the season, what do you like about your group here?

"How we went through all the hard times and we've come out the other end. Now understand each other, they understand why I'm hard on them and that it is from a good place. It's really for their development because I do truly care about their careers. I always say to them, 'It's disrespectful if I didn't say this to you. Out of respect for you and your career, I have to correct it even though you might not like it sometimes.' They are good people, they're well intended and they're all young in the sport. Even Josh is only in Year 4 so they're open to learning new things. They're great in the meetings, they pay attention, so it's a good group."

Given how young the room is, how did you approach this season?

"Teach. That's the one thing, keep teaching them. And then if there's a lot of bad habits, you can't break bad habits, but you can stack the good on top of them and we just have to keep stacking good reps over and over and over again. That was the name of the game."

What have you enjoyed about working with Jim Harbaugh this year?

"I like that he still has a player's perspective. He remembers what it was like for him. And a lot of times as coaches, you get involved in the coaching side of it, but when we get out there on the practice field, he has a good feel for it. Is this too many reps? Are we going too many periods? He'll change it in the middle and say, 'OK, change the tempo or let's cut this period.' And then similarly, in terms of verbiage or something on a play, he was like, 'Look, the quarterback's got to make the protection check, he's got to do this and the motion all this. Let's help him.' If there's too much verbiage in a play, he'll be first to say, 'Hey, let's make it easier. Pete Carroll had the term, 'Player's mind.' Jim sees it through the player's mind as well as the coach's mind."

We'll dive into your group a bit here. What has impressed you about Ladd McConkey in his rookie season?

"He was a good route runner, but it wasn't so much the style of what we teach. So, his ability to adapt his plus what we teach here and merge them, I think it's made him even better at route running with the drive phase. It hasn't been too big for him, especially the games. I see continual growth from game to game to game. And I like that he lets me coach him hard. He bites back every so often and I actually love that because that's what we want him to do on Sunday. He's just done a really, really good job."

Joshua Palmer is viewed as the vet of the group. How does he fit into your room?

"Josh is the lead-by-example guy. He's quiet. His game week is, 'How do I prepare myself the best I can to win my routes?' To ask him to mentor this guy, mentor that guy, that's my job. He's made some very clutch catches. He's just been a leader by example and you know on Sunday he's going to be ready to go. I'll add one more thing, too. People told me he had a hard time staying available in past seasons and practice. He's been stellar. He practices hard and has kind of revamped himself."

Quentin Johnston has displayed a ton of mental and physical toughness this year. How has his game evolved in 2024?

"He's really grown in every aspect — route running, release, concentration at the catch point. He's gone from a guy who was kind of silent in meetings to now asking questions, having opinions. In practice, he'll come to me and say, 'What do you think? Should I have taken this angle or that angle?' When a player becomes self-aware like that, that's when he can make a big jump. He's a young player and this is the infancy of his career. Don't make one moment bigger than it needs to be, let's just keep chipping away and getting better every day. He's done that."

Last question for you. What excites you about the playoff push here in December?

"It's cliché, but it's the next game. The playoffs are not promised. I've been where there's four games left and you just have to win one. I was on a team that we didn't win one. So, I honestly don't think that way. I want the next play or the next game and then you look up at the year and, 'Oh, we have enough wins to get in.' That's really how I look at it. I am excited that we're in the hunt because it's just easier to motivate everyone and come out here every day. But that's really the gist of it because anything can happen these last few games."