We're just over a month away from the start of Chargers Camp, which kicks off Thursday, July 25 at Jack Hammett Sports Complex.
Until then, the Chargers have parted ways for some much-deserved rest and relaxation.
That includes Head Coach Anthony Lynn, who will be heading to Tanzania shortly to oversee the construction of a K-7 school through his newly-founded Lynn Family Foundation.
Nonetheless, it was a long, productive offseason for the Bolts. Lynn addressed the media following nearly every open practice during the offseason.
While he had many memorable, noteworthy and/or revealing comments, here are 10 of personal favorites that stick out:
On CB Trevor Williams…
"I have to tell you, Trevor looks outstanding. His confidence is back. He's playing like it in practice. His change-of-direction is night-and-day [different]. It's going to be a nice little competition over there between him and [CB] Michael Davis."
On QB Philip Rivers' intangibles…
"He's intelligent. You talk to a lot of great football players and people think they're just athletic and skillful — no. They're intelligent. A lot of guys are in the right place at the right time and that's not an accident. Philip knows where to go with the ball. He gets us in the right protections up front. He gets us in and out of bad plays. He runs the offense like you want the quarterback to."
On if there is a position group that he has his eyes on…
"I'm looking at all of the positions. Wide receiver, I'm looking to see who is going to step up there. I thought [WR] Artavis [Scott] was having a heck of an offseason for us last year before he got hurt. He has picked up where he left off. We're definitely going to need someone to step up there after [WR] Travis [Benjamin on the depth chart]. You have [WRs] Keenan [Allen], Mike [Williams], Travis and then Artavis and a bunch of guys that have been around one or two years, and then some young cats. I'm looking at that group. I'm looking at running back. I'm looking at the depth that we have at the running back position and offensive line, especially the tackles. I'm looking at those quarterbacks. We have four really good quarterbacks, I believe, in camp. That's just to name a few."
On QB Easton Stick:
"I like him. He's a winner. He went 49-3 at North Dakota State. He's a sharp player. He's creative when he has to be. He's a passer. I like him a lot. I think he's a good prospect and he'll get a chance to compete…He's a quarterback. I like the way he played quarterback and led that football team. Sure, there may be a wrinkle or two that he can do that maybe others can't, but we'll use him the best we can."
On LB Denzel Perryman…
"He's in great shape, man. Denzel, when I first got here he [weighed] 205. I'm looking for my MIKE linebacker and he's standing right in front of me and I didn't even know it. He was like 205 or 210. The next year, he was 245 and then he's 220 this year. Denzel, he has that discipline to be at whatever weight he wants, but he looks good at all of those weights."
On looking into strategies regarding playing time in preseason and training camp…
"I just looked at our team and I thought — I've said it before — I just think we could have finished stronger. I thought we were fading a little bit at the end. I think there are some things that we can do in the beginning. First of all, it depends on the personnel that you have. Do you have an experienced team? Do you have an inexperienced team? We have a lot of young guys. We have guys that need to be playing and getting those reps. There is a fine line between doing enough and not doing enough. We're still trying to figure that out. I said that already, going into this preseason, I plan on resting more of our veteran guys."
Take an exclusive look behind the scenes at your Bolts participating in this year's promo day.
On empowering veteran players to teach rookies…
"I think at some point, you do have to empower your veterans a little bit. I pick and choose when I do that, but when you do it with guys like we have in this locker room — they take those rookies aside, work with them and I think they just grow and develop a little faster. Our coaches do a heck of a job preparing with these guys and meeting with these guys, and we're there for them with any type of advice, but I still go back to we will coach the players to coach the rookies. That's just what I believe in."
On the biggest message to the rookies…
"I told these guys, we have a talented football team. For a rookie to come in here and win a starting job — that's going to be hard to do. They're going to have to create some value, and that's special teams. We look at play counts after games. How many plays did this guy have and how many plays did he have? Special teams is the quickest way to do that. I try to get those guys to understand that because a lot of those guys, they've never played teams before. They've always been the five-star [recruit] and the All-American in college. Now, for the first time in their life, they're going to have to play teams. That's going to be important for us this year. I thought our special teams took another step [last year]. I thought we got better, but with some of these guys that we brought in, we had that in mind as well."
On if depth has improved this offseason…
"I think every year that I've been here, the depth has improved. I really do. I think you start seeing that on special teams. As the depth improved, you see better special teams. Our coverage units last year, they were pretty good. They were all in the top-10, I do believe."
On if he uses stories of upsets in sports to motivate players…
"No doubt. There's always some Muhammad Ali film upstairs, some Mike Tyson tape, Evander Holyfield. We've used all of those guys. Just to show how you can be down early and then come back and win. Just showing resilience and perseverance. I've used all of those examples before."
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