Khalil Mack is as even keel as it gets.
Even after making a big play — and there's been plenty of them in his accolade-filled 11-year career — the veteran outside linebacker always keeps calm and cool.
Tuli Tuipulotu, however, believes more is needed for a player of Mack's caliber.
That's why whenever the 33-year-old makes a play, Tuipulotu is right there next to him to place an imaginary crown on top of Mack's head.
"Kind of like the king," Tuipulotu said. "The top dog."
Mack laughed when Tuipulotu's gesture was brought up.
"I always push it away," Mack said with a chuckle. "He gets mad at me every time."
This light-hearted back and forth is one of the many examples of the high-level of respect the former Defensive Player of the Year has garnered in the locker room.
It's the type of person the Bolts have grown to know in just three seasons in the powder blue — both on and off the field.
"He doesn't like it because he doesn't like the attention, he doesn't like being like that," Tuipulotu said about Mack. "That's just the guy [he is]. He's very humble, that's just the kind of person he is."
Morgan Fox, Mack's teammate for three seasons, said: "He's the coolest superstar you'll ever meet. He's one of the nicest people and you appreciate him for who he is, his honesty. Just who he is as a teammate and as a friend."
Chargers Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter added: "Khalil is one of the best football people I've ever been around. He takes his game so serious, he's a leader, he's got this humbleness about him yet he's probably one of the most competitive people I've been around. You can see why he is who is, why he's played the way he's played."
Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, in a way only he can, even likened him to one of the most notorious figures in history.
"To me, he's like one of the most evolved humans I've been around in every way," Harbaugh said in mid-October. "Like Leonardo da Vinci. A great athlete, but a brilliant person, too.
"Can't say enough good things about him… he's special in the best kind of ways," Harbaugh added. "Love being around him every day."
Mack might be in Year 11, but he isn't even close to slowing down.
Look no further than his most recent game in Week 9, where the veteran wreaked havoc in Cleveland finishing with a sack, a forced fumble and two tackles for loss.
And looking at the bigger picture of the season, he sits atop the Chargers leaderboard with 4.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, five passes defensed and two forced fumbles.
"If there's an early MVP candidate for the Los Angeles Chargers, it'd be K-Mack right at the top of the list," Harbaugh said about Mack prior to Week 7.
Mack continues to be among the league's best on the edge, ranking second among all edge rushers with at least 350 snaps in Pro Football Focus' defense grade (91.8) heading into Week 10.
He's still one of the best there is against the run as well as he's posted a 92.1 run defense grade, good for the second-highest figure among the position. That would be the highest grade of his career.
"It's everything I want to be as a player," Mack told Chargers.com. "When you think about being a complete player, it's run, pass, dropping into coverage, tackling, it's all the things.
"All the different intangibles when it comes to run, pass and being as complete as possible," Mack said.
All this, of course, coming off what was arguably the best season of his career.
Mack surpassed the 100-career sack mark after posting a career-best 17.0 sacks, which also tied the single-season franchise record.
But even before that historic season began, the 33-year-old felt something big was coming.
In his first season with the Bolts, Mack was coming off a foot injury that required surgery, and his 2022 offseason prior consisted of working his way back.
It flipped in 2023, however, as he had a full offseason to train and get back to feeling like his true self.
And that confidence went a long, long way.
"It was super important," Mack said. "I had a full offseason to kind of get my body the way it normally is, past where it normally is... I had a different type of confidence going into that year knowing that I was back to myself in a sense."
Mack later added: "It's been the standard for me for so long. I feel like people don't realize, especially coming off a foot injury, what that can entail when you don't have a full offseason to get back to what you once were."
The historic season had a number of highlights for the veteran, but none greater than his Week 4 performance against his former team in the Raiders.
Mack racked up a career-high six sacks in one game, setting the franchise record and tying for the second-most sacks in a single game in NFL history.
Even with his six-sack performance though, there were still detractors about his performance throughout the season overall — and Mack heard and saw them all.
The veteran said he saw some during the season, some after, but it's something he keeps as a form of motivation.
He's able to laugh about it, but he continues to use things like that to add to his fire in Year 11.
"It was kind of like a slight. You go from Week 3 having no sacks, now you're at the top of the leaderboard… and they're like, 'He's only up there because of the six sacks,'" Mack said with a laugh. "Then finished wherever I finished at it's like, 'He's only up there because of the six sacks.'
"It was funny, but I use everything as a means of motivation," Mack added.
Flying under the radar has been common for Mack in his football career, and it's been no different as he continues to play at a high level as he nears his mid-30s.
Finding motivation in everything and having that same drive that has gotten him to this point — an eight-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, former Defensive Player of the Year and, more than likely, a stop in Canton when his playing career is over.
But for now, there's no signs of that ever stopping for as long as he keeps playing.
"It all just adds on to the fire I've always had coming from Fort Pierce, Florida," Mack said. "I only had one offer in D1. It's always a point of emphasis I kind of keep on when it comes to being counted out, motivation.
"I use everything possible, especially in Year 11, to kind of keep it going," Mack added.
All of the success in his 11th season wouldn't be possible without his well-known work ethic.
Coaches and teammates have raved countless times about the amount of work Mack puts in since he's arrived in Los Angeles.
While he may not be the loudest leader in the room, his work and voice speak volumes inside The Bolt.
"Everything he does, it's at the highest level, whether it's the training environment, the meeting environment, the practice environment, the game environment, pregame, halftime," Harbaugh said. "The way he leads. The way he communicates is incredible. When he talks people listen."
Fox added: "The standard is the same throughout the year. He's always working that hard, practicing that hard, preparing that hard. His preparation and his play is on another level."
According to Mack, not only is the work ethic important, it's necessary to reach the levels he hopes to continue reaching.
"That's why I'm still able to play the game at a high level, because I've given this game everything," Mack said. Time, energy, effort, hard work.
"Going out working hard, working like I'm flat broke," Mack added. "That mindset is attached to me, it's stuck inside of me. I can't get rid of it."
What could a player as accomplished as Mack still hope to achieve?
He hasn't been shy about it since he's been with the Chargers: A Lombardi Trophy.
"I've done everything in this league," Mack said. "Defensive Player of the Year, Pro Bowls, All-Pros.
"That's the only thing I haven't accomplished yet," Mack added.
His goal of capturing a Super Bowl has only gotten bigger as his career, and the accolades, continued to lengthen.
He remembers that hunger for a championship ratchet up even more when he joined the Bears, but it didn't come to fruition.
Now with the Chargers, he sees that same chance at what he covets, and he has high hopes for what the group is capable of with the amount of talent on the field and coaching.
"Just being as delusional as I am and how I want to affect the game, how I want to be a great teammate, I knew we can always get back to that point," Mack said. "Leaving [Chicago] and coming here, I see the same opportunity.
"Having a great quarterback like Justin Herbert, having a great coach like Harbaugh, great defensive coordinator like Coach Minter and [Offensive Coordinator] Coach [Greg] Roman and [Special Teams Coordinator Ryan Ficken] on special teams, Joey [Bosa], Tuli, Bud [Dupree], Rashawn [Slater], Joe Alt, J.K. [Dobbins], Derwin [James, Jr.], all these guys."
It's the one of the reasons he said back in May that went into restructuring his contract this offseason to remain in powder blue.
He believes this team and organization has what it takes to accomplish the ultimate goal.
"I know it's a special group," Mack said. "It's a special group and we got a chance to do something special."
