Top Quotes | Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Joe Lombardi Speak During Week 2 of OTAs

Jun 01, 2022 at 04:48 PM

Wide receiver Keenan Allen

On veterans being present at OTAs:

"The culture is growing. Obviously, you can tell with all the free agents that we signed that they like it. They like what they see. They like what they're hearing. They like what they see on tape, too. Come out and join. Hopefully they can bring that fire and bring that energy. [OLB Kyle] Van Noy is a Super Bowl winner, bring that. [CB] J.C. [Jackson] is a Super Bowl winner. We need all of that energy to come show us how to do it."

On entering his 10th NFL season:

"It's been a long time. It's been a long time. I've just been grinding. Shouts out to the guys that I've played with and the coaches helping me get here. It hasn't been easy. I've been on good teams and been on bad teams. It's all been family though."

On how the offense can grow:

"[It can grow] a lot. We left a whole lot on the field. I think we led the league in drops. Obviously, fourth down was big for us. Third down wasn't great. I think we can get better on third down and just understanding the offense. Like we just said, just understanding the offense, being in the second year. [QB Justin] Herbert being able to make changes. Just keep finding ways to get downfield."

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi

On entering his second season as offensive coordinator:

"It's a lot easier. Everyone's familiar with the terminology, so a lot less stress, at this time of the year anyway, because they've had a year to digest everything. [QB] Justin's [Herbert] bandwidth is a lot wider for everything, so we can focus on some Football 202 type of stuff, rather than just getting in and out of the huddle. It's real nice."

On what he has learned about Justin Herbert 'over the last year':

"He's just such an intense guy when it comes to football. He's such a perfectionist. That desire that he has to be great, and then his stamina for studying and working at it, is impressive. Shane Day, our quarterbacks coach, he works the heck out of him and he never gets tired of working. That's a huge positive."

On improvements toward 'being the top offense in the league':

"I think consistency. You look at the stats, they were relatively positive, but there were stretches where, maybe, we didn't perform like we wanted to. Just being more consistent, game in and game out, quarter in and quarter out. Our familiarity with the personnel, knowing exactly how we want to use them, we'll be further along, as a coaching staff. All of those things will play into it."

On defensive players being present during voluntary OTAs:

"They're here. I think that [Head Coach] Brandon [Staley] has done a really good job of building that team culture here. It's a good group of guys. It was last year, too, but adding those veterans that have a lot of pelts on the wall, we're very excited about it. You can kind of feel the energy from the defense with some of those additions. It's going to be a fun training camp, for sure."

Wide receiver Mike Williams

On offensive continuity:

"That just kind of increases our confidence. Year one, knowing what we did in this offense and that was just the first year being in here. Then, year two, coming out here, running the routes and getting better. Just getting better on the field. Getting that connection better. I feel like for us it's going to be exciting to go out there for year two and ball in this offense."

On building on the offense from last year:

"It's a lot [of building on last year]. Year one, obviously, you're going to have your ups and downs. Year two, everybody plays with a lot more confidence. Everybody knows what to expect now. I feel like year two is going to be a lot better."

On WR Joshua Palmer:

"He's a lot more calm. He knows this now. He knows the offense. He knows every spot to be in. He's playing a lot more smooth. He puts in the extra work with us."

On the outlook of the offense:

"It's going to be crazy. It's going to be special. Last year was our first year, obviously, so this year it's going to be better and it's going to be exciting."