Irvine, Ca – With another week of training camp in the books, the Los Angeles Chargers held a light practice in helmets and shorts on Friday as they prepare for their first preseason game of the season against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at the StubHub Center.
The game against Seattle will be used as an evaluation tool while the coaches will be looking at how the players pick up the base things they are implementing.
Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said the game will give them an understanding of some of the defense they have installed and what they are trying to get done.
“You want them to go out there and not be confused,” Bradley said. “Just see who can run and hit. That will be the theme, run and hit; and just check out the skillset of all the players.”
With new concepts and schemes, the coaches are asking different things from the players. Bradley said the transition hasn’t been real tough with players like Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram.
“You have flexibility with Joey Bosa playing a big end at 3-4 and he can play a base end in the 4-3,” Bradley said. “A guy like Melvin, an outside linebacker in the 3-4 is more of a Leo rusher for us. He did that 70 percent of the time anyway.”
With it being the first preseason game, the coaches want to keep miscues to a minimum and play mistake-free football. Offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said one game is not going to make or break a player to a large degree, but getting a chance to see them in this first game is a big deal.
“You can go out here and you can put them in game-type situations all you want going against the defense,” Whisenhunt said. “But when you start talking about tackling and cutting guys and getting to full speed, it’s different.”
A sellout crowd is expected at the StubHub Center on Sunday as the Chargers will play its first game as a Los Angeles Chargers.
