Thursday, September 13, 2018 | Hoag Performance Center | Costa Mesa, Calif.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN
On DE Joey Bosa:
"No, he's the same. It's a bone bruise and he's going to be out this week for sure, but we figured that."
On if Bosa will return to action soon:
"We hope, but we're going to be really cautious with this injury because we don't want it to linger. When he's healthy, we'll get him back out there."
On being pleased Bosa's injury wasn't more serious:
"It's always good that it wasn't something worse, but we'd love to have him back. We're not going to put him out there before he's ready."
On if Bosa's absence will change the approach of the defensive line:
"Yeah, we might change some of the things we do up front. That's a possibility."
On the level of concern with Bills QB Josh Allen's ability to run:
"Really concerned because he moves really well and he's a strong man. [Ravens OLB] Terrell Suggs was trying to tackle him last week and he just walked right out of his arms. So he's a guy that can move, he is strong and has big arms. He can cause some problems."
On if Josh Allen reminds him of Eagles QB Carson Wentz:
"Not yet. He hasn't played enough games, but he has a tremendous skill set and big arm."
On the challenges of the long road trip:
"Well, you leave a day early. So we'll do meetings in Buffalo and practice in Buffalo, but we're used to it. We did it four times last year, so it won't be that much of a challenge."
On what makes it difficult to win on the road:
"[There are] distractions, communication, fan noise. There are a lot of things that happen when you're on the road that you
have to overcome. Then you've got to go play the opponent. We've handled that well in the past. I don't see that being a problem. I see it being a fun game. It's going to be a great environment to play football and I'm looking forward to it."
On QB Philip Rivers attitude following the game on Sunday:
"I didn't [share his mentality] at the time, but I do now. You know, we did some good things last week, but I don't want to keep dwelling on last week because that's behind me. All my attention and focus has to be on Buffalo, but we can bring it together, tighten it up a little bit. [If we can] be more consistent [and] make the plays we're supposed to make, we're going to be fine."
On Bills RB LeSean McCoy:
"He's one of the best players on the team, so you have to think they're going to run a lot of things through him. Last week it didn't work out. He didn't get a lot of touches, but this week I fully plan on seeing a lot of LeSean McCoy. He's going to go down as one of the best to play our game when it's all said and done. He's a special player."
On the defense needing to swarm McCoy:
"You have to get a lot of hats to the ball with LeSean. No doubt about it."
On Bills LB Tremaine Edmunds:
"He's impressive. I mean, last time I checked he was 19 years old. Maybe he had a birthday. I don't know. He's really impressive. We loved him coming out of Virginia Tech. He's a big kid that can run. He's very athletic [and] comes from a football family. He's a special player, for sure."
On DT Justin Jones:
"Justin did well. He did a lot better than I thought. He missed a lot of time in practice with the ankle and we just threw him in the fire. We said we've got to get him going sooner or later, and he responded well."
On G Forrest Lamp:
"There is a possibility [that he plays this week]. We're going to watch him today in practice. We have a patch on him. It's going be to a big day for Forrest."
On if the team has guidelines for when to attempt a two-point conversion:
"We do have guidelines, but I like to use my instincts. I use my instincts first — but I do have guidelines of when I go for two and all that jazz like everyone else. I thought it was the right time. I wanted to get that score tied at that time and hopefully, take the lead. The first one didn't work out, the rest of them did."
On if the team will experiment with DE Isaac Rochell seeing more playing time:
"We're going to experiment with different packages, but Isaac's going to handle that role — that big end. That's his position for now."
On returning to Buffalo:
"For me, it's my first time going back since I left there. I know a lot of people in Buffalo — in the city and in the organization — but I'm going back to play a football game and hopefully win the football game, so I can't let that distract me."
On if there are advantages for him given his knowledge of Buffalo:
"You know, [Bills Head Coach] Sean McDermott is there, and they brought in a lot of new coaches, a lot of new players. There's really a lot of turnover. There are a lot of people I don't know in that organization anymore. So we'll see."
On if there were any changes to the preparation with the earlier kickoff:
"Our preparations stay the same. We just pumped everything up."
On if the team practices earlier:
"Not when we go east, we don't, but when we go to London and stuff like that, that's a big difference. Yes, we will [for London], but not for going east."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR GUS BRADLEY
Opening Statement:
"Okay, as you know, pretty much all of our prep now is with Buffalo. Taking a look at them, they're very talented. I know that last week's game maybe showed like a lopsided score. Just some things that you see on tape, we don't have a lot to go off of as far as preseason. Take a look at some of those games, but with the new starting quarterback and trying to look at the tape, we're kind of in the same situation we were in last week. They've got some guys, obviously, with [Bills RB] LeSean McCoy, that are very talented — a number of their guys. So it will be a great challenge in a hostile environment for us."
On the difficulty of not having game film on Bills QB Josh Allen:
"I think every week there are challenges that present themselves. You have a new offensive coordinator for their team and the new quarterback for their team. So there is that aspect that you look at."
On preventing Josh Allen from running:
"Yeah, he is [a big, physical guy]. You do see that on tape where he has the ability to run, extend plays and get yardage — and he'll do it any time. He'll do it on first and second down. They have a run play designed for him, they have two minute, he'll take off and run. So he's just a big, strong guy that — when you see him step up in the pocket, you see a quarterback that has really good poise. You can tell he's big on tape and he stands up there, but if he doesn't like something, he has the
ability to extend the play and using his legs. So I think you just have to have great awareness with the defensive line."
On if Josh Allen reminds him of anybody he has faced:
"Without actually going against him, it's hard. We've talked about his size and his arm strength. He has a very strong arm."
On increasing pressure on the quarterback:
"I think we are who we are. I think you're going to see a guy like [LB] Uchenna [Nwosu] get some more reps as the defensive end in situations just to keep those guys fresh in those situations that present themselves. So I think we just need a good push up the middle. With a quarterback like this, if it's going to be a passing game — those [front] four, we've got to rely on those guys. Keeping them fresh is the biggest part."
On a learning curve for LB Uchenna Nwosu:
"You know, he kind of divides his time up. Now, this week he's spending a little more time with [Defensive Line Coach] Giff [Smith] and the defensive line. He's had a good week in practice. I think that's more probably his natural position. We knew he could rush the passer. The idea was could he also be an outside linebacker for us? I think for him where he's getting more reps is that's probably more in his comfort level."
On Nwosu playing two defensive snaps last week:
"Yeah, I think there were some things that we saw. As we look back at it, it's one of the things we said that we could find a way to get him on the field. We really didn't know what type of game it was going to be last week. This week, because of where we are, I think we're now having more time for him to play some defensive line. He'll still play outside linebackers, but he is spending more time [with the defensive line] so we can get him on the field more."
On the pressure the defense brought last week:
"You know, not what we had hoped. I thought in the third-and-six to 10 range, it was pretty good. We had some pretty good pressure, but there are a lot of quick gains, some RPOs where they're getting out of their hands quick. There were some shots, too, where we didn't get to them. I think we look at it based on how many dropback passes and play-action passes [are there], and do we affect the quarterback? We would always like that number to be a little higher."
On DT Justin Jones:
"You know what? Really, all three of those [rookies] — we felt like in the game played pretty well. You know, [S] Derwin [James], [Justin] JJ [Jones], [LB] Kyzir [White] — those guys. JJ is a guy that is naturally gifted. I think he can go in there and play. I might have mentioned this during training camp, I think we felt like it's not going to be too big for him. The way he played, it wasn't too big for him."
On DE Isaac Rochell:
"I think with Isaac, sometimes you get caught as a coach and say, 'Okay, [DE] Joey [Bosa] is not there. Ike's [Rochell] in there,' and you compare, but they're different players. Ike is going to give you really good, solid snaps. He's going to be exactly where you need him to be and he's going to make plays doing that. Now we've got to get him to say, 'We need more
from you. We need more from you.' So I think as he gets more reps and more playing time, we'll see that because we saw it in training camp and we saw it in the preseason."
On Bills RB LeSean McCoy:
"Well, Shady [McCoy] can hit it north-and-south and break it for a big one, or cut back against the grain. So the big message to our guys is, with him, all 11 guys have to get to the ball and the backside pursuit guys have to be aware of his ability if he sees a soft edge or short edge to cut back against the grain. I think all 11 guys really have to be aware of where he is — and even though they're in the backside pursuit, you know, they've got to keep an eye on where he is."
On Bills LB Tremaine Edmunds:
"I have not watched their game last week, but I know he's very talented. We really liked him coming out of the draft."
On what stood out about Edmunds:
"I don't know his exact size, but he's 250 [pounds and] 6-3. He has great length, he's got speed. Those attributes for a linebacker [are impressive]. I'm sure he's probably going through some of the same things our guys are [where] you see some flash plays and then you see somewhere he's got to learn, but that would be unfair for me to comment because I haven't watched."
On if there is excitement coaching a really young player to break the mold:
"I don't know if you look at it that way. You look at what is the player's skill set and how do you best utilize his skill set. That's with every player on the defense."
On S Derwin James:
"Well, you know, Derwin last week played quite a bit of strong safety. We had him play free safety last week. So there were a couple plays where they took some shots. I thought he did a good job on the deep balls. I think we can continue to build that flexibility with him where he plays free and he plays some strong. To keep him where he can play in the middle and play quarters and also play in the box — the more that he can do, it will just be more helpful for us."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS LINEBACKER DENZEL PERRYMAN
On Buffalo starting QB Josh Allen:
"It doesn't matter who they've got back there. It's another week and another team. I get to redeem myself from last week, and I have the goal to be 1-0 this week."
On stopping Josh Allen's running ability:
"We've just got to gang tackle, man. We've got to gang tackle and we've got to get to him, first and foremost. If we do get out of the pocket, we've got to rally."
On if Josh Allen reminds him of anyone he has played against:
"No. I can't think right off the top of my head, but he is big and strong."
On preparing for Josh Allen's first career start:
"You've got to watch preseason. Everybody's playing preseason. That's what we did. We had to go back and watch preseason. If you really want to get in depth, you can go back and watch when he was in college."
On takeaways from watching film no Josh Allen:
"Like [Defensive Coordinator] Coach Gus [Bradley] said, he's a big, strong, physical quarterback. If he doesn't have a window open though, he's not afraid to run, and we've got to bring him down."
On DE Joey Bosa:
"We're going to miss him, but it's next man up mentality. [DE] Isaac Rochell, I have all the faith that he's going to come in and do what needs to be done."
On the defensive performance last week:
"I feel like we played alright, man. We left some plays on the field, obviously. I feel like we've just got to tackle a little better and make sure we really detail our work."
On the way LB Uchenna Nwosu prepares:
"He's a student of the game. He asks a lot of questions on the field. He doesn't mess up. He still asks questions and he's full speed."
On Bills LB Tremaine Edmunds:
"I think I actually played against him in college. I don't know how long ago that was, but I've played against him before. I remember when they played against Miami, I saw how good an athlete he was, the stature that he has, and he's so young. He's a great player and he should play in this league for a long time."
On if he has played in Buffalo before:
"No, I haven't, but I've seen a lot of videos on social media. I heard the fans, you know, are some diehard fans out there. So I'm kind of excited driving to the stadium seeing them jumping on tables and people caught on fire. I heard they may throw stuff at the bus."
On embracing that welcome from Buffalo fans:
"I'm from Miami, man. While playing Pop Warner — true story — we actually beat this team down south and they threw rocks at our bus. So, it's alright. Beer cans, all that stuff, it's cool."
On how he will react if objects are thrown at the bus:
"It's going to fire me up, man."
