SAN DIEGO – Having digested a portion of a detailed playbook and grown accustomed to an NFL practice tempo during rookie orientation and 12 OTA days at Chargers Park, the team’s rookies took a break from the field for more than five weeks.
With so much to assimilate, how much did they retain? Would they have to start again from the beginning?
“The month off (from on-field practice), it’s not really a month off,” 
More than 40 players are attending the first training camp sessions this week. Most of them are young players with two more single-practice days before the full team reports July 30.
“Some of the stuff they were doing real well when they left, they’ve forgotten a little bit,” Head Coach Norv Turner said. “We’ll get them going. Hopefully this gets them started so when everyone’s here they’ll be able to compete at a fast level.”
The familiarization session is designed to propel the team into a streamlined, efficient few weeks once camp commences in full. But Turner isn’t breeding them to be camp bodies.
“We’re counting on them to play roles, contribute, and some of these young guys could end up in starting roles, so getting them started right away is important to me,” Turner said. “I’m not trying to get them on the field to play. I’m trying to get them on the field to win.”
Even the most athletic specimens cannot unleash their potential until they understand their playbook and feel comfortable in their new surroundings.
“The only way you get that speed and you get to use the tools that you have is if you know exactly what you’re doing,” Castillo said. “Overall it’s a matter of getting them the time to get comfortable.
“The biggest thing is not letting a guy tank, not letting a guy go in a hole and lose that confidence. Because you can’t step out on that field and second-guess yourself.”
An old axiom in professional sports maintains that, at the team’s facility, someone’s always watching. But some observations carry more merit than others, Turner said.
“What you really evaluate is the most competitive situations that you put them in,” Turner said. “There’s a lot of guys that will do it well in practice situations or run something well when it’s not as competitive, and there’s certain guys that step up and do a great job the more competitive it gets.”
