WEEK 8 — PODIUM AVAILABILITY
Monday, October 21, 2019 | Hoag Performance Center | Costa Mesa, Calif.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN
On G Forrest Lamp:
"Forrest Lamp broke his fibula. He's going to be out for the season. It's a tough break for him because he has worked his tail off to get back and it's just unfortunate."
On the center position:
"We have [C/G] Ryan Groy — I had him in Buffalo. He does an outstanding job at center so he can play center or guard. We're going to look at the combinations and see what works best for our football team."
On Lamp:
"We spent some time last night talking and he's down right now. He hadn't played in three years. He's been hurt. This is a guy that was never hurt before he got into the National Football League, so he's dealing with that right now, but he'll bounce back. He'll be out 8-10 weeks and we'll go from there."
On considering a QB sneak at the goal line:
"You could QB sneak at that. A lot of our offense, we run from the gun, but when I have an offensive line, we're on the one-yard line and I have a [running] back that has scored more touchdowns than anybody on this team — a big back — we should be able to get a yard."
On QB Philip Rivers sneaking:
"He has one since I've been here, but it's something that he hasn't done a lot in the past. It's not just a little bone-head play. It's a skill to run a QB sneak and I'm not saying that Phil can't do it, but he just hasn't done it a lot. Like I said, with [RB] Melvin [Gordon III] in the back, I felt like that was our best bet."
On RB Melvin Gordon III's technique on the last play:
"I don't really like [when] a guy leaps unless it's fourth down, but you've just got to hold on to the ball. He hit the hole. He just has to hold on to the ball. He probably scores if the ball is in his hands."
On the overall performance against Titans RB Derrick Henry:
"I thought that the defense did a pretty good job. I think they held him under four yards-a carry. He's a big man, a good runner. I thought, overall, they did a good job on him."
On containing Henry despite an injured interior defensive line:
"Especially with [DT] Cortez [Broughton] and [DT Jerry] Tillery in the game. Those two young pups, I thought they stepped up yesterday. They strained, they played hard. It was good experience for those guys. Going up against a back of that caliber and that offensive line, I thought they did a good job."
On if he said something to Gordon after the game:
"There's nothing you can really say after a play like that because he already knows. A running back's job is to secure the football and he didn't quite get that done. He feels bad, but he's got to bounce back. We've got a big game this week."
On Tennessee's fake punt:
"They didn't catch us on anything. We had our punt-safe on the field and we had one guy that did not guard his guy. Everyone else was covered, but we had one guy who blew his assignment and that's what happens.
"That was very frustrating because we talk all the time to do your job. I think sometimes guys get a little bit relaxed because you have punt-safe on the field and they think nothing's coming and it caught us off guard."
On RB Troymaine Pope's fair catch:
"It just wasn't egregious. I know the rule, but that's what I was told. That's why they didn't throw up the flag. If they had thrown him on the ground or something like that then yeah, they probably would have gotten a flag but he just kind of wrapped him up."
On moving forward with the season:
"This is what we do. We put a lot into it every single week to go get a win and when we don't get a win, we are all disappointed, but we've got to regroup and do it again. That's why they're professionals. I believe every game on our schedule is winnable and I think our players do too, so that's our approach. We have nine weeks left and we think they are all winnable."
On RB Austin Ekeler's versatility as a receiver:
"It's evolved a lot since he's been here because his production keeps going up and we use him more as a wide receiver now. When he's not the primary back, he has a versatility role where we can do that — put him out there and he can run go-routes, stutter-go [routes], and get those matchups that we are looking for. [WR] Keenan Allen is a No. 1 guy, not doubt about it, but you get Austin Ekeler on a linebacker, that becomes a No. 1 target.
"He's quick, he's explosive. He has excellent hands."
On Ekeler's elusiveness:
"I think some of his is natural. When he got here, he was elusive. I always liked him in space."
On how to improve elusiveness:
"Agility, quick feet, all those types of drills that we do in the offseason and we do a couple of minutes a day in individual periods with [Running Backs] Coach [Alfredo] Roberts."
On knowing where the opposition will be:
"We plan for those matchups. We know exactly what there's going to be and that's why he's been so successful. Keenan [Allen] does a good job at that."
On blown coverages:
"Well, when you play with young players, you're going to have some of that. At one point, we had three rookies on the field yesterday and they made mistakes, but that's part of the process. They're going to make mistakes, but they are going to be really good players in this league."
On eye-discipline:
"I don't think eye-discipline or anything like that is the issue. You just put a lot on a young man's plate, and you get in a game, big things happen fast. The more games they play, the slower the game is for them and they'll make less mistakes."
On S Rayshawn Jenkins:
"He's missed a couple [of tackles] and I think the one's that he's missed have been big, so it seems like he's missed a decent amount of tackles, but he really hasn't. He's missed a couple and he's the eraser tackler. If he misses, a lot of times it's going to be a big play. That's why you've got to have a guy back there that can tackle and that's aggressive, like Rayshawn, and can run the way he can run.
"Rayshawn dives out of position to try to help [LB] Drue [Tranquill] on the tackle. Rayshawn didn't have a beeline on the guy. I thought he made a hell of an effort trying to get back in on the tackle. I thought [CB] Casey [Hayward Jr.] could have done a little bit more, but it is what it is. Overall, Rayshawn is one of my better tacklers in the secondary. We have had some tackling issues, don't get me wrong, but I don't think Rayshawn is one of them."
On Austin Ekeler's called back touchdown:
"I watched it over and over. It looked like he scored a touchdown to me.
"It possibly could have won the game on that play, but anytime you give me the ball on the one-yard line and we don't get in, we don't deserve the win."
On officials:
"They do the job the best they can. I'm not here to criticize the officials or anything like that. I thought they did an outstanding job for the most part yesterday, but that play just looked like a touchdown to me. I didn't see the view that they saw, so I can't comment on that."
On DE Melvin Ingram III:
"I'm very hopeful [to get him back soon]. He's close."
On K Michael Badgley:
"Badgley's getting close too, but Badgley, he's got to be able to kickoff and kick because [P] Ty [Long] is not ready to kickoff yet. I didn't want to bring Badgley up and he can't kickoff and kick, then I'm out a kicker again on game day."
On K Chase McLaughlin:
"I think Chase is doing an outstanding job. He's had one miss and he's had ball tipped. Other than that, he's been pretty solid."
On the kicker position:
"If there was a competition between those two, that would be a good thing. Chase is doing really well, so I would be okay with that."
On DB Desmond King II:
"He's fine. He'll be fine."
On DE Joey Bosa:
"I thought Joey played well. Joey always plays hard, so it doesn't surprise me with Joey."
On Bosa's postgame comments
"He's really not a vocal leader. He leads by example and sometimes that's the best way. People watch what you do and not necessarily what you say, and Joey is definitely a leader in his own right."
On the resolve of the team:
"I knew by the time I came out of the team meeting. That one yard isn't going to affect this team. We're figuring out a way to get better, improve and go attack these next nine weeks.
"Attitude, personality, the leadership."
On T Russell Okung:
"He was close [to playing], but he wasn't quite ready. He had a day-and-a-half of practice. To go and play in this game, he just didn't feel really comfortable with doing that, so we just held him out this week."
On T Trent Scott:
"Trent's a tackle. He's a tackle. He'll play left or he'll play right. We'll play the best two tackles. It may be Russell [Okung] and Trent, it may be Russell and [T] Sam [Tevi]. We'll see."
On turnovers at the one-yard line:
"I hope it doesn't define our season, but I mean, we'd definitely like to convert those one-yard runs but we didn't. The one yesterday, we were in the end zone and I think we had a penalty that brought us back to the four-yard line. Then, we were there again, but we fumbled it. That's the way it has been."
On third downs:
"There's no issues. We've got to get a little more pressure on the quarterback and the coverage has got to get a little bit tighter."
