The Bolts were back in full pads Wednesday for a 90-plus minute practice in El Segundo.
The Chargers are scheduled for a 4 p.m. practice on Thursday before Saturday's second preseason game against the Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Here is the Chargers Camp Report from Wednesday's practice:
1. Colson makes a splash
It was first-and-10 early in Wednesday's practice when the Bolts offense tried to run a screen pass to a running back.
Junior Colson was having none of it.
The Chargers rookie linebacker perfectly read the play and exploded into the backfield, covering 10 yards in a flash to tally a tackle for loss.
It was the first 'Wow' moment we've seen from Colson, a 2024 third-round pick who underwent an appendectomy before training camp started.
Did Chargers Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter see the play?
"Yeah," Minter said with the laugh of someone who had seen it before.
"We drafted him where we drafted him for a reason," Minter added.
Colson, of course, played for Minter and Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.
And while he missed the first few weeks of camp, he has been ramping up his involvement of late.
He began by working off to the side before moving to individual drills earlier this week. Colson then stepped into 7-on-7 drills Tuesday before getting some 11-on-11 reps Wednesday.
Besides his splash play on the screen, Colson also made his presence felt with a "sack" on the second play of team drills in Wednesday's practice.
Minter said the next step for Colson is to keeping stacking days in practice as he plays catch up on the field.
"Definitely exciting. Obviously, a guy I know very well and I have a good idea of what he knows about our defense," Minter said. "But want to see him do it at this level and against these caliber of players. Excited to see that ramp up happen."
2. Alt shines in 1-on-1 drills
Colson wasn't the only Bolts rookie to flash on Wednesday.
The Bolts did 1-on-1 drills in the trenches as right tackle Joe Alt won both his reps against edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu.
It was a sign of continued progress for Alt, who earned praise for his play in the Bolts preseason opener against Seattle.
Fellow linemen Brenden Jaimes, Zion Johnson and Foster Sarell also won both of their reps in the drill.
Defensively, rookie Tre'Mon Morris-Brash turned heads yet again with a dizzying spin move past Tyler McLellan, although the tackle rebounded to win the second rep.
Wide receivers and defensive backs also went up against each other in 1-on-1 drills.
Joshua Palmer kicked off the session and won both of his reps despite stick coverage from Asante Samuel, Jr.
Rookie Ladd McConkey also won both of his reps, including a good route over the middle.
3. Defense wins on 3rd downs
The Chargers spent one of their final practice periods focused exclusively on third downs, a session that was dominated by the defense.
Easton Stick received the bulk of the reps with the first two units, both of which had trouble moving the chains.
The defense forced three incompletions in Stick's first four throws, including a pass breakup from Matt Hankins, who had tallied an interception earlier in practice. Stick's other throw was caught short of the sticks.
Stick's next two throws were complete but short of the chains before Morris-Brash forced an incompletion with a pressure. Stick scrambled for a first down on his eighth and final rep.
Luis Perez, who took some first-team reps Wednesday, also had a mixed bag of results.
His first pass was incomplete before he bought time and found McConkey along the sideline for a first down on third-and-12.
Newly-signed linebacker Shaq Quarterman registered a "sack" before Perez's third-down pass to Stone Smartt was caught short of the sticks.
Overall, the defense prevented a first down on 10 of 12 third-down reps in the drill.
One other note: Cameron Dicker made all six field goals Wednesday on the narrower (nine-foot) uprights. He is now 42 for 45 in camp in team drills.
