On the first day of Offseason Training Activities, both the Chargers offense and defense shared the field for the first time this offseason.
While it was clear both sides of the ball were eager to compete, the Bolts' defense came to play.
"It felt good," said cornerback Brandon Flowers. "It just felt good going against somebody instead of coming out here, lifting weights and running up and down the field. There's a lot of competition going on. It was just fun. (The offense) has firepower over there, we feel like we have firepower on our side of the ball so we just want to get out there and have a good time."
The day saw the defensive players like cornerback Richard Crawford and rookie inside linebacker Joshua Perry making interceptions. As a rookie, making plays will certainly help you stand out and while Monday was the first day veterans and rookies got to share the field in team-on-team action, Perry's play in particular caught the eye of his head coach.
"That's what you saw on film," Head Coach Mike McCoy said. "When you saw Joshua on film and the entire Ohio State defense; the way they run around, run to the football, that's the great thing you saw and one thing we really emphasize. But for the first day the entire defense ran to the ball and got their hands on a number of balls. The turnovers they created today, we need more of it. It's something we haven't done enough of in the past couple years and moving forward it's something we need to do every day."
Although 2015's campaign is something the entire team is putting behind them, one bright spot was how strong the defense came on at the end of the season. Monday's practice allowed the Bolts D to further that camaraderie and build chemistry with the new additions to this year's squad.
"With different guys out there, when one guy makes a play the whole defense runs up the sideline," Flowers said. "It's a great feeling. We had a lot of guys make plays today and the whole defense was on the sideline. We just feed off each other's energy."
Flowers said the new faces on defense have added a rejuvinated feeling to his side of the ball. Along with players like Perry and Flowers, the other defensive backs have enjoyed the bolstering of the team's front seven with players like first round pick Joey Bosa and free agent nose tackle Brandon Mebane.
"The whole secondary, whenever a guy from the front seven comes in, we love it," Flowers added. "In the Draft, we wish we could get seven front guys just to have a front push. It works the same on the back end. These (front) guys hoping we get playmakers on the back end to get the quarterback to hold it two extra seconds so those guys get sacks. It works hand in hand and I think we did a good job this offseason bringing in guys who made plays."
While everything is coming up roses in OTAs, the defense knows they have to put their plan into action come game time. As Flowers believes, there is no short of talent on this team, they just have to execute and that starts with winning starting Week 1.
"Being a veteran, I knew what kind of talent we have. We have the talent in place to make it happen…we just have to make it happen. We can't talk about what we have on paper, we have to go out and win games. I felt that way last year, but this year, we have to go make it happen."
