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SAN DIEGO – Rookie Jonathan Crompton doesn’t expect to be playing much this season, but he also says he couldn’t ask for a much better situation for his rookie season.

He has the opportunity to watch two established NFL veterans operate in Pro Bowl quarterback Philip Rivers and one of the best backups in Billy Volek. The order is well-known, leaving the 6-foot-3, 222-pound rookie free to learn.

“They’ve been through the fire and they know exactly what goes on, so you try to pick their brain and see what goes on and try to learn from it,” Crompton said.

Rivers earned a six-year contract extension prior to last season, and then backed it with a career-high 4,254 passing yards and 28 touchdowns against nine interceptions.

Those numbers, as well as a 13-3 overall record, earned him the second Pro Bowl selection of his career.

“The guy can go out and make everyone around him look better,” Head Coach Norv Turner said of Rivers. “He throws the ball where it’s supposed to be thrown. He throws it extremely accurately.”

Rivers’ record as a quarterback, a measure that’s magnified at his position as much as any in the NFL, is pristine. He’s a perfect 18-0 in December and 49-22 as a starter.

But he’s stated that he wants to win more, and not just in the regular season.

“I think we’re going to be a year better. There’s a lot to build on from last season,” Rivers said. “It seems like we say it every year, but we did a lot of really good things last year and won a lot of football games.

“We know the story didn’t end the way we wanted it to in January, but we’re picking up where we left off, hopefully, after those 11 in a row. We’ll pick up there and be ready for another year. A lot of the same core guys are back and it’ll be exciting. September will be here before you know it.”

The man behind him won one of San Diego’s most important games of this decade. Volek completed 3-of-4 passes for 48 yards and scored the winning touchdown on a 1-yard sneak to beat Indianapolis on Jan. 13, 2008, in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

But Rivers, at 28 years old, is perhaps the team’s most recognizable face. With back-to-back 4,000-yard seasons, it’s easy to see why the Chargers are glad to have him taking snaps from fellow Pro Bowl center Nick Hardwick.

QUARTERBACKS AT A GLANCE
		PHILIP RIVERS Size: 6-5, 228 Exp.: 7 Career GP: 68 Named one of the 50 Greatest Chargers in 2009 … Threw for a career best 4,254 yards last season and topped 100 with his passer rating for the second year in a row (105.5 in ’08 and 104.4 in ’09) … Rivers is 18-0 in December and 20-4 against the AFC West … Selected to his second Pro Bowl last season.
		BILLY VOLEK Size: 6-2, 214 Exp.: 11 Career GP: 34 Acquired with a trade in October 2006, Volek has appeared in 10 games as a Chargers player … All 10 of his career starts came with the Tennessee Titans in 2004 … He threw for 2,789 yards during that span, including 918 combined passing yards in back-to-back weeks against current AFC West rivals Kansas City and Oakland.
		JONATHAN CROMPTON Size: 6-3, 222 Exp.: R Career GP: 0 Threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior at Tennessee … Compiled a streak of 142 passes without an interception, one less than the all-time Volunteers record … Played for four different offensive coordinators … Drafted in the fifth round.