WEEK 1 — PODIUM AVAILABILITY
Monday, September 2, 2019 | Hoag Performance Center | Costa Mesa, Calif.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN
Opening statement:
"I'm looking forward to seeing these guys play. They've put in a lot of hard work. We got a head start today, we got a little bonus practice. I feel good about it."
On watching the starters in practice:
"Yeah, I was starting to miss those guys a little bit. I'm looking forward to seeing those guys play."
On the team's health:
"Right now, we're trying to get everyone that we can ready for Sunday. The injury report will be out on Wednesday, I'll fill you in on Wednesday."
On S Roderic Teamer:
"He made plays. He was always around the ball in OTAs. He was consistent all throughout OTAs and training camp. He was just always around the balls. He made plays. He's physical, he's hungry. He has a little chip on his shoulder — came in as an undrafted free agent. I understand how he feels, a little bit. He just made plays. He deserved to be on this football team."
On RB Melvin Gordon III:
"My concern, right now, is on Indianapolis. We've talked about that for a long time. I'm just ready to move on — we're playing games.
"I didn't tell the team anything. [I didn't address it], not at all.
"We've been talking about this for a month and a half. Now, it's time to play football.
"I'm focused on the guys that we have here. They've been playing pretty good football, so no, I'm not frustrated at all."
On running backs holding out in the NFL:
"I don't know. Guys feel a certain way. They hold out — they're under contract and they hold out. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. I don't know if it's just a running back thing or not. I think it happens at a lot of positions."
On the rushing attack:
"I thought the runners ran hard. I thought they ran well. Scheme-wise, we didn't do all of the things that we would do in the regular season. I was expecting to see a little more efficiency out of the running game than I did, to be honest with you. The running game is normally behind early in camp, but towards the end of camp I was expecting it to pick up a little bit more than it did. Hopefully, we'll get that going on Sunday."
On the rushing strategy:
"I've always used those guys as a tandem. That's not going to change. We're going to put guys in good positions to do what they do best."
On RB Austin Ekeler carrying the ball 25 times per game:
"I would never say never, but probably not."
On Indianapolis:
"Guys are practicing in preseason what they'll do in the regular season. It's not all deception. You can learn from some of those preseason games. You go back and watch how they played at the end of the season last year, they were one of the hottest teams in the league. They have a good football team, a heck of a coaching staff. It's going to be a challenge."
On the offensive line:
"It's the same five that we had last year except [T] Russell Okung is out right now, so [T] Trent Scott will step in at the left tackle.
"[G Dan] Feeney will start out — [G] Forrest [Lamp] will definitely play — but Feeney will start out [at left guard]."
On G Forrest Lamp:
"Forrest, right now, has only played inside. He can play some tackle in a pinch. We're going to get him more tackle reps because I know that he played that position in college. I think it's important for our offensive linemen to have the flexibility to play two spots. He will go back to tackle eventually."
On the balance of the offense:
"I'm going to lean toward whatever the defense gives us. If they give us running looks, we're going to run the football. If they give us passing looks, we're going to pass the football. I think you win differently every single week. We'll just wait and see."
On working Lamp in during games:
"Oh, absolutely. I have no problem with that. With what I've seen so far out of Forrest, I have no problem of putting him in a game at any time."
On offensive line continuity:
"I think, when you have young guys, you worry about that a little bit. This is year three, it's not like this is a rookie. This is year three and, like I said, I'm very confident in what [Lamp] did and has done far."
On the starting linebackers:
"Right now, [LB] Denzel [Perryman] is still shaking off some of the rust. [LB] Kyzir [White] has done a nice job. He's had a good camp. We still have six or seven days to make that decision. It's been a nice battle."
On the starting strong safety:
"That's going to be [S Adrian] AP [Phillips], for sure."
On T Trent Scott:
"You know, I'm very comfortable. It's his second year. He understands the situation — he's got to step up. We're going to do some things to help him out a little bit. We're not just going to throw him out there and leave him on an island all day. I'm very comfortable with Trent. He works his tail off and is a smart player. I think he's going to be fine."
On S Derwin James Jr.:
"DJ needs to take care of himself right now and get healthy. This team has always had that 'Next Man Up' mentality. We did it last year with [DE] Joey [Bosa], we did it with [TE] Hunter Henry. Now, it happens to be DJ. No one is flinching. We're going to miss him, I can tell you that. We're going to miss him, but we're ready to play without him.
"Absolutely [no rush to bring him back too early]. He's a young player. The last thing you want to do is put him out there too soon."
On keeping QB Easton Stick:
"I'm confident that there are different things that he can do when we need him to. He's a young guy that we're excited. I want to see his development over the next couple of years. We think he has a high ceiling. He'll be our starting scout team quarterback. He's going to learn and develop a lot just from doing that — going against the defensive line and secondary that we have every day. I look forward to seeing his development.
"Like I said, [former QB] Cardale [Jones] had a heck of a camp. I like the upside that Easton has. I'd like to see him over the next couple of years to see what he could develop into."
