There's been no shortage of positive Chargers chatter from notable pundits as the team gets ready to head into the 2018 season. Just this morning, NFL.com's Adam Rank listed his five reasons why the Bolts will make the playoffs.
Think all the talk adds pressure for the players on the team?
Think again, according to Melvin Ingram.
"It's not added pressure," Ingram said following Monday's OTA practice. "I was taught you've got to speak stuff into existence. If you want to do something, you've got to say you're going to do it and then you've got to go do it."
The Chargers narrowly missed out on the postseason in 2017, falling just shy after overcoming an 0-4 start. In Ingram's tenure with the team, he's only tasted playoff football once, and that was in 2013. But he isn't just planning on playing football in January. He's ready to continue that all the way through February 3.
"We (haven't) been to the playoffs for a while," he continued. "I think it's going to be crazy. This Super Bowl we're going to win; we're ready. We're grinding. We're just going to keep grinding. We're going to grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind no matter what. That's what our main objective goal is, to win a Super Bowl. Keep fighting. Keep playing. Keep grinding. No matter what. That's the goal: We've got to bring a Super Bowl to the city."
Ingram had a stellar season in 2017 after making the switch to defensive end. He totaled 56 tackles and 17 tackles for loss which ranked third in the NFL. Additionally, he tied his career-high with 10.5 sacks which were the sixth-most in the AFC. He also earned his first Pro Bowl honors.
With him on a defense that already includes stars like Joey Bosa and Casey Hayward and added four defensive playmakers in the 2018 draft, he anticipates they'll be even better than they were in 2017.
"I'm all about defense. Just getting a safety in, linebackers, we needed that. That's something we needed. I felt like the team kind of catered to us when they went and did that, but it's kind of for the whole team. But, we definitely needed that. I felt like we've got some of the best picks in the draft…. The sky's the limit. Sky is really the limit. I think it's going to get even 10 times better with the picks we picked up. We targeted areas that we needed. We got some of the best people in the draft in those areas. It's going to be fun to watch. Better not miss it."
Browse through the top photos from day 7 of OTAs.
