Below are three takeaways from Sunday's postgame press conferences with Brandon Staley, Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen and Derwin James following the Week 8 game against New England.
Focus on 17-game season
The Chargers put up a battle at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, with the game coming down to a few key plays late, yet ultimately fell 27-24 to the New England Patriots. But with a long season left, the focus for the Bolts is moving on to the next 10 games.
Veteran wide receiver Keenen Allen explained what he relies on to overcome a tough loss after Sunday's game.
"All I know how to do is go back to work," Allen said. "Go right back to it, put the pads on, hard hat and go back to work. Go do my job, try and catch the next one."
Despite the frustration after a loss, Allen talked about the importance of striving to be the best he can be each week, no matter the outcome on gamedays.
"It's part of being a professional," Allen said. "It just comes with the job; it is what it is. We signed up for 17 games, you gotta play all 17 of them. Win, lose or draw you gotta go back next week and play."
Justin Herbert also put emphasis on improving for next week's matchup against Philadelphia and getting better as a team together.
"That is one of the good things about film tomorrow," Herbert said. "It is going to sting for a while, but it is on to the next week and we have got another tough competitor next Sunday, so we are going to watch film and get better from it."
Safety Derwin James, also talked about 'getting back in the lab' to prepare for the Eagles in Week 9. James explained how the defense can work on providing a 'spark' for the offense when it's needed.
"As a defense, our job is to keep giving them an opportunity," James said. "We really need to give them a spark, make a play, make a turnover, make an interception. That's always on our mind every time we take the field; how can we get the ball to Justin? How can we give them a spark?"
Defensive positives
Head coach Brandon Staley talked about what he liked out of the Chargers run defense on Sunday which got a key player back in DL Justin Jones.
The Bolts defense as a whole didn't allow a passing touchdown and allowed a single, one-yard rushing touchdown that took place in the first quarter. Staley talked about what he saw from the Bolts run defense specifically.
"I felt like our run defense actually took an incredible step forward today," Staley said. "A huge step forward, I thought we tackled extremely well, I thought we were really physical. I thought getting Justin Jones back was important. I felt like the way we played on defense today gave us a real chance to win."
James, who led the team with 13 tackles, forced his third fumble on the year as well. James became the first Chargers player to force three fumbles in the first seven games of a season since Marcellus Wiley in 2001.
No. 33 also took note of the improvement in the run defense on Sunday.
"Justin Jones is a big part of this team," James said. "Having him back, I felt his energy on the first play of the game I think it was he made a stop. It was a combination of both and everybody coming in and doing their job."
Odds & Ends
Allen on rookie WR Joshua Palmer's first-career NFL touchdown: "Hell of a catch. Hell of a catch. That's the type [of] stuff we need. Especially late like that, we need a play, somebody's gonna make one, Josh came up and made play. It's big time … A ball like that, a catch like that, that's a momentum shift. You make a catch like that; you automatically think we're gonna get the onside kick. It was good stuff."
Herbert on the pick-six: "Just a miscommunication [between him and TE Jared Cook.] I've got to be smarter about that. I've got to move on to the next read. But that's one of those plays you'll have to watch and get better from and as tough as it is, you're gonna have to get better from it."
James on dealing with injuries to the secondary in-game and moving forward: "It was an adjustment because both of those guys [Asante Samuel Jr. and Michael Davis] are our starting corners. Me and Chris [Harris Jr.] and a couple guys, TC [Tevaughn Campbell] came in and stepped up, Ryan Smith; a lot of guys came in and did what they can to help when those guys went down. [It's a] next man up [mentality,] we have to keep playing. We've got more games to play so we've got to keep playing."
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