Monday, October 15, 2018 | The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland | Cleveland, Ohio
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN
Opening Statement:
"I thought, after watching the tape — we thought this game would be won in the trenches — I'll tell you what, the offensive line did a heck of a job. Anytime you rush for 250 [yards] — we did some perimeter running game with the receivers and things as well — but for the most part, they did a heck of a job. They made it look easy. It really wasn't that easy. There were a lot of plays checked at the line of scrimmage, which changes their responsibility. They adjusted well and executed well. The defensive line, on the other side of the ball, I thought did an outstanding job. They held that team under 100 yards rushing and they're one of the best teams in the league rushing the football. They picked up some junk yards there at the end, but for the most part we kept them in check. I thought the offensive and defensive line — they both got game balls — they did a heck of a job."
On DT Corey Liuget:
"He's getting his legs back. He looked much better this week than he did last week. This is the Corey that we expect to see. He was playing at a high level before he left. Like I said, he's getting his legs back and getting back into the rhythm of football. He looked good."
On the turnaround of the run defense:
"You get what you emphasize. We have a lot of guys — defensive linemen in general, they want to sack the quarterback. They get paid for sacking the quarterback, but every now and then we have to remind them that we have to stop the run. We reminded them a lot."
On getting into the right looks with pre-snap reads:
"[QB] Philip [Rivers] is a big part of that process. Someone asked me yesterday if it was good to give Philip the day off and rely on the run game? We didn't give Philip the day off. First of all, he threw some outstanding passes. Secondly, he got us in most of those runs. He understands that running game plan like everyone else. We'll get different looks up front, he'll make the checks at the line of scrimmage and he'll get us in runs where we're not running uphill all day. He does a heck of a job for the run game."
On the advantage of having a quarterback that can affect pre-snap reads:
"Absolutely, a quarterback that can get you in the ideal runs versus the right fronts and defenses, absolutely [it's an advantage]."
On C Mike Pouncey's athleticism:
"When you have, like you just said, the athleticism and the power, you can run inside with Pouncey, you can run the perimeter with Pouncey. I love his mindset, his mentality. I think that's contagious."
On WR Keenan Allen's rushes:
"Keenan is a good runner. He's a good athlete. His change of direction and power is good. We know he can run the football. His blocking was just as good."
On using Allen's ability on jet-sweeps:
"Sure. When [WR/PR] Travis [Benjamin] is up — he's a speed guy — we use him. We try to create roles for everyone. We can use Keenan for a lot of things. There's nothing that he can't do."
On the trick play that didn't work on Sunday:
"Every time you call a trick play, if it works, you're a genius. When it doesn't work, it's a bad call. It was a bad call. They played it well."
On his history with week-long trips:
"I think you're absolutely correct, it can be a galvanizing experience for our football team being on the road and away from home for two weeks. I think it's good to see these guys together, having lunch and dinners together around the hotel and even off-site. Yesterday, I go have a steak and I see all the players in there having dinner. It's good to see. It can definitely bring a team together."
On the challenge of the long trip:
"Distractions, just distractions. Keeping guys focused on their business."
On the importance of the support staff on long trips:
"We couldn't function without our equipment staff. [Head Equipment Manager] Chris Smith and his crew, they do a heck of a job making sure we have everything we need. You can go out and prepare the best you can and [if you don't] have the right equipment, it can just — for naught — just cancel everything you've done. Those guys do a heck of a job."
On Defensive Coordinator Gus Bradley's history with trips to London:
"He went to London every year when he was in Jacksonville. I've leaned on Gus a lot with his schedule and the hotel that we're staying in. Our sleep research, I used a lot of his information."
On the importance of sleep to avoid jet lag:
"I think you have to put a lot of focus on it. I think we're going to be playing at like, 6:45 a.m. our time or something like that. Guys are just not used to playing under those conditions. You have to look at sleep patterns."
On if the game time had an effect on the earlier practice times this week:
"Yes, for sure."
On if he has gone on overseas game trips:
"Yeah, I've gone overseas three or four times."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS NOSE TACKLE DAMION SQUARE
On looking forward to London:
"I am [looking forward to it], man. I haven't had a chance to do this playing in the league. I have some friends that had the opportunity to do it in the past few years. They like it, so I'm excited to see what's [going] to happen in London."
On if his friends told him how logistics of a London trip would work:
"Yeah, you have some guys that say it is a long, drawn-out process. It does take you a little time to get adjusted to the time change over there, but I think that it [changes] person to person. I think everybody reacts differently about everything."
On if he was ever off-site during a game week before:
"No, no. This is the first time where I've ever had a stretch where I had to stay on the road — maybe in Philly, maybe my rookie year. As far as I can remember, this is the first time that I've had to stay on the road and get it done, but it's kind of cool. It's like this whole gladiator mentality. You have to move on the run, we have things to do, but we still have business to handle."
On keeping the team in the moment:
"Just stay in the moment. Just, today. Just enjoy being with the guys today. I got up this morning and got a workout with those guys. We talked about some of the good things that happened in the game, some of the pictures that we took from the game and posted them on the Gram. Just being present, that other stuff is coming. It's coming and we're going to have to perform still, so there's reason to start anticipating the Titans right now."
On the similarity of this three-game streak to last year:
"No, [we're in the moment] right now, man. It's a new team, a new opportunity. We don't even have some of those guys that helped us accomplish some of the things we accomplished last year."
On getting to Browns QB Baker Mayfield:
"Trusting what I saw on film. I saw some things on film that allowed me to play a little faster. I saw that, I attacked it and I was right."
On what he saw on film regarding Mayfield:
"I can't tell you. I can't do that because they have other games to play, but it worked."
On defending short fields:
"As a defense, you want the reps. You try to practice those situations in practice and different things like that, but it's nothing like going in the game with your back against the wall. Those are the plays that you want to make. Those are the plays that stand out to the people upstairs, for sure. As a player, if you want to make a mark on a team and an organization, you want to make plays in those situations."
On facing jet sweeps in college:
"Yeah, people would pull that out against us because they couldn't run in 13 personnel against us or try to play power football against us. At Alabama, we would always get people trying to spread us out around the field. You just have to stay composed. Those offenses, they're hit or miss. They can go for 70, but they can also go for negative 20. You just have to stay composed, tackle the guys you meet, don't miss tackles. I think that's important when you're playing in space, is just making tackles. If you can tackle great in space against that offense, you'll be okay."
On DT Corey Liuget:
"He's just excited to be back. New is always good. We have a new guy in the room with some new energy. I know he's excited to be on the football field. He talks about it all the time. I've been with that guy for a while here, so it was strange not having him in the room. Just to see my guy talk about what we talk about and do the things that we do on the field from a communication standpoint, it was pretty cool."
On the Titans giving up 11 sacks to Baltimore:
"I like that."
On what he knows about the Titans:
"[I don't know anything about them] right now. Not right now. We worked out today, just trying to shake off some of the soreness from the game. We'll start focusing on the Titans probably later on this afternoon."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS WIDE RECEIVER TYRELL WILLIAMS
On the mindset coming into Sunday's game against Cleveland:
"It's kind of crazy to know that the night before I was praying about it to get myself in the right mindset. My prayers were answered going into the game. [It was] just having the right mindset in attacking. It went well."
On placing an emphasis on high-pointing the football:
"I'm still working on it every day, being one of the things I really wanted to get better at. I'll continue to work on that as it's nice to see it come to fruition in the game."
On the first contested touchdown:
"When I was running the post [route], I wasn't sure if he [QB Philip Rivers] was going to put [the ball] up because it took a minute [to develop]. Then, when I saw it up there I felt everyone else closing in, but once I had my hands on it — it was just [a matter of] hanging on and finishing through the ground."
On the majority of his production occurring within a short period of time:
"Well, I knew we wanted to take shots. It was just [a matter] of getting the right [defensive] coverage and getting out [from deep in Chargers territory] as we were backed up for a couple of series in a row. Just getting out of that [area] was big and when we started to see the right coverage, we wanted to make sure we hit [the big play]. To be able to get it back-to-back was nice as it got me into a rhythm."
On the selfless mentality of the wide receivers:
"It's big. I think we have a really good [wide receiver] room and everyone can make plays. We know that anybody can have a big game at any time. We're all rooting for each other. We've been competitive with each other since training camp and think it's elevated our game. Once we get [WR/PR] Travis [Benjamin] back, it's just going to add to it. I'm excited to get him back."
On the approach to praying before each game:
"I'm always praying for the game, each night before. It is a thing that helps me get in the right mindset for this game and being on this trip [to London]. I thought we had a good opportunity to get three [wins] in a row and finish off before the bye week at 5-2. With me being in my own mindset, hopefully it will feed off to the other guys too. I think our offense, defense and special teams played great. It was big."
On whether Cleveland made adjustments in the secondary:
"I didn't really notice. Since we had a big lead, we weren't attacking as much once we started adding to it. The run game was open so much that I didn't really pay much attention to it."
On thoughts about team bonding on an extensive road trip:
"In college, we always had long road trips, being Division-II. We would take 25-hour bus ride trips to games and would be a bonding experience. Being together for a week will be big. We're a close-knit group anyway, but just being around each other like this will be big."
On his longest collegiate trip:
"We had two. One year, we had to bus to Utah which was about 28 hours. Then, we also bused to Los Angeles for a game that was about 24 hours. It was two rough ones and lost both of those games too."
On the balance of the offense:
"I don't know what it is, we're just 'clicking' right now. Everybody is trusting the running backs to run and catch. Receivers are making plays and the offensive line is playing really well. I just think we're clicking. I think we've been together for a while now, this core group. Just having that and the [prior] experience to go with it is good."
On any differences with QB Philip Rivers this season:
"No, Philip's always been a big competitor and really makes great plays. He gets us in the right calls. I don't see anything different, as obviously he's been playing really well. I think he's been playing really well since I've been here, so it's nice to see the wins come with it."
On the effectiveness of the run-game:
"I mean, when you can run and get the play action — you can throw it down the field. It's huge. Like I said earlier, when we get Travis [Benjamin] back, it will let us spread [the ball] out even more. With having the run, you have to respect the play-action. On the touchdown pass to me in the corner, we attacked because [the Cleveland secondary] read up on the run. So, I think [the run game] opens up a lot of stuff as it takes away guys down the field."
On any concerns with extended road trips:
"There isn't really any concern. There's really no other place I'd rather be. I mean, we're on a road trip getting ready to go to London to play in the NFL. So, if you have complaints with that then there is something wrong. I'm just having fun. It's a cool experience, so I'm excited to go over there and play."
On any preference toward the timing to acclimate in London ahead of a game:
"I've never done it before, so I don't have a preference. I'm sure we'll get a couple of days to go see London and check stuff out. So, I'm excited for that."
On whether the structure of training camp helps with extended road trips:
"For sure. We're definitely used to it and going through this [schedule] with meetings in a hotel and busing to practice. With the past few years of doing it, it helps getting ready for this. So, I think it'll be smooth for us."
