Day 3 of Chargers 2026 Training Camp is done after the Bolts held their third practice of camp by working for 90 minutes with no pads.

The Chargers will practice Saturday at 10 a.m. before an off day on Sunday.

Here is the Chargers Training Camp Report from Friday's practice:

1. Trey Pipkins joins left guard rotation

Back in June, Jim Harbaugh was asked which players were candidates for the starting left guard spot.

The Chargers Head Coach mentioned Kayode Awosika, Jake Slaughter and Trevor Penning, all of whom took reps in front of Justin Herbert over the first two days of camp.

But Harbaugh also included Trey Pipkins III in that group, and he promptly joined the fray on Friday.

While the core of the Bolts offensive line was intact with Rashawn Slater, Tyler Biadasz, Cole Strange and Joe Alt, Pipkins manned the left guard spot for the majority of Friday's session.

"With his length and his range from a pass pro perspective, it's very exciting to have someone at that position," Chargers Offensive Coordinator Mike McDaniel said about Pipkins. "We think he has the skillset and we're trying to engrain our skillset and fundamentals."

Pipkins has started at right guard in his career but has primarily been a tackle, either as a starter or in a swing role.

Sure enough, he also took reps at right tackle in Friday's practice.

And while that five-man group made up the majority of practice Friday, the Chargers did make some swaps toward the end of the session.

Awosika (left guard) and Penning (right guard) practiced in front of Herbert while Slaughter worked at center, too.

Branson Taylor was in at both tackle spots and left guards at various points.

But with left guard specifically, McDaniel said the quartet of Awosika, Slaughter, Penning and Pipkins will likely be the main candidates to start.

"I think that's the core," McDaniel said.

But, when will that job get decided?

The Chargers will practice in pads for the first time in Tuesday, a day McDaniel indicated is a turning point in the competition.

"We have a lot of flex guys that have the ability to play guard, play tackle. And what you're trying to do is get people ready to win the job," McDaniel said. "What I mean by that is that I'm very resistant to crowing someone in non-padded practices, especially like blockers. You're trying to get them comfortable so that job competition can really take root."

He later added: "The way guys are going after it, there's going to be a really fun competition that's just getting underway. But you can't claim a lead player in that race this early in the process, particularly because that's a job of blocking people and we really haven't got to the stage of truly blocking something, which occurs when you have pads on."

McDaniel said the earliest point in the timeline could come in mid-August or so, while there's also a chance it stretches later in the month.

While McDaniel said he would obviously prefer the eventual starting five to gel together as long as possible, "you want the best starting group as well."

The fun will soon begin at left guard.

"We're getting a vision for how they play, but it's a little different when there's 300 pounds of mass on your edge and a six-inch step determines whether or not you can actually execute that block," McDaniel said.

2. A lighter practice

Harbaugh said Wednesday that he envisioned the Bolts having some lighter practice days sprinkled throughout camp.

We saw the first one Friday as the Chargers essentially didn't do any team drills at full speed.

Herbert, by the way, worked on his footwork with a weighted green ball at times, as he was given a breather from a full workload.

Ladd McConkey said he appreciated Harbaugh looking out for players early in camp.

"I'll take it," the Chargers wide receiver said.

But McConkey noted that while Friday may have been a lesser day physically, it also required the Chargers to be sharper between their ears.

"I think it's good, I think it's only good though if people are locked in and dialed in to their stuff," McConkey said. "It's like, physically it might be half speed but mentally when we're in the huddle or lining up, it's full speed so let's get out there.

"Then you can slow down in the routes, get some volume off our legs," McConkey added. "I think those are the practices where you might need to be even more mentally locked in to really get some benefit out of it."

3. Early situational work

Sure enough, the Chargers spent a portion of Friday's session working on clock management in a situational drill that was not at full speed.

With the Chargers offense at the opponents' 40-yard line and 18 second on the clock, Herbert completed a 15-yard pass to Quentin Johnston.

As the second ticked away — the offense was out of timeouts — Herbert and the unit rushed to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball for a field goal try.

Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei did the same thing with their groups in what was an end-of-half situation in either the second or fourth quarter.

It's early, but Harbaugh is planting the seeds now for his team to be ready for Week 1 against Arizona.

For more info on camp, check out the Chargers Training Camp Hub.