WEEK 4 — PODIUM AVAILABILITY
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 | Hoag Performance Center | Costa Mesa, Calif.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN
Opening statement:
"I'll tell you what, watching Miami, with their three losses, they played three pretty good football teams and probably three of the better teams right now in our league. In that last game, they were in that game all the way up until probably about the fourth quarter. You go back and watch the New England game that was a two-score game late into the third quarter, so that team's playing hard. They have talent. They are fighting. They have an outstanding young coach, [Dolphins Head] Coach [Brian] Flores. I have no doubt he's going to turn that thing around. It's my job to make sure that he doesn't do it this week, but it's a good football team at home in Miami. They're playing hard."
On the hardest thing about playing in South Florida:
"Probably right now, the heat. From my experience playing there and coaching there is you've got all the heat right now."
On going against the Dolphins:
"They're 0-3 and we're 1-2. We can't be relaxed going into this game at all. We know they're going to give their best shot. We're going to get their best shot. We understand that. It wasn't that long ago, I remember a team being 0-3 and that team didn't stop. That team fought its way back out of a hole and I believe this team will too."
On the player's mindset:
"Just watching tapes, studying the tape. We were watching the Cowboys this morning, 10-6 in the third-quarter, they dropped a touchdown in the end zone, they fumbled the ball inside the 10, they missed a kick, you tell me they couldn't have been in that game all the way until the end? Cowboys were a pretty good team last time I checked. So, we just watch tape."
On RB Melvin Gordon III:
"I have not heard from Melvin and right now, those are all hypotheticals. I'll cross that bridge when it gets there. If he's going to play, if he's going to travel or whatnot but right now my focus is really getting this team ready to go to Miami on Friday and try to win a football game."
On how much time a player needs to be ready:
"It depends on what you've been doing, but I don't think you just walk in camp and just play right away without going through any practice. You can run and do all the drills you want but it's hard to simulate real football."
On team expectations:
"Absolutely we are disappointed, but our expectations, our standard, it has not changed. We have a lot of football in front of us and we're looking forward to it but no, the expectation has not changed at all."
On the team's response to Sunday's loss:
"I think the guys understand we need some urgency right now. They understand some guys need to step up and we need to start finishing football games."
On C Mike Pouncey:
"He's a professional. I have no doubt Pouncey will keep his emotions in check. He has a lot of friends there and he didn't leave on bad terms I don't believe, so I'm sure it will be exciting for him. It's home for him as well, Florida — but he's a pro."
On Dolphins QB Josh Rosen:
"This is a guy that we faced last year, and he put the first 10-points on the board so we know he can throw it. He has a lot of talent and he's a good, young quarterback but he's going through some growing pains right now, like most do. If you give him a chance to beat you, I'm sure he will.
"Not really. They are in more than three wide [receiver] sets and things like that, but their game plan is to his skill set, which is smart."
On S Roderic Teamer:
"He came as a strong safety so he's going to continue. He will stay as a starter at strong safety. He'll have a chance to work through some of those mistakes he made last week and make some corrections but like I said, we're working two different combinations and if it's not working, we can switch it.
On DE Joey Bosa:
"He's effort has been outstanding — chasing the ball down from behind. His effort against a running game. The last couple of weeks the defense has been outstanding in stopping the run. It's not just about sacks with Joey. Joey is a complete football player. I've been very pleased with his effort."
On LB Denzel Perryman's impact on the rushing defense:
"Denzel was definitely a part of that, but I can't say that it was all Denzel. That team was a top-five rushing team. We held them to 40 yards rushing. I can't say that that was just because of Denzel. That whole defense has been emphasizing stopping a run. We understand that if we are going to go where we want to go in this league, we have to be able to stop the run and I think all 11 guys did that."
On Teamer:
"You get those young kids out there in practice — things are a little bit slower in practice — and they make all the right moves and make all the right decisions. You get them in a game, the game speeds up, it's pretty natural for young players to make some of those mistakes that he made. We're not down on him at all, but he has to make those corrections moving forward."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS QUARTERBACK PHILIP RIVERS
On playing in Miami:
"I think that's what the history says. This current team, like I always say, hasn't ever played there together. We know what's there. It has been a long time since we won there. Shoot, when was it? It's been a long time. This is a big week for us, to just focus on getting better — and obviously, the Dolphins, but focus on getting better. We're making too many mistakes. As I said on Sunday, we're just doing too many things to hurt ourselves right now. We're doing so many good things, but we're not doing the little things — [that's] keeping us from winning. We have to have a good week, go to Miami and find a way to win a game."
On RB Melvin Gordon III:
"It has been a little while since I talked to him. I'd rather not say. Obviously, that would but up to [Head] Coach [Anthony Lynn] and how to handle all of that. I have not heard any more than what you have. I know it would be good to see him."
On his connection with WR Keenan Allen:
"Obviously, his ability as a receiver — his release and all those things that we all know. I think what really takes him to the next level from a quarterback to receiver standpoint is his understanding of what defenses are doing to him, the guy covering him and his leverage, where his help is — all of those things. He sees it as it's happening. We see it together. That just gives you a great deal of confidence that he's going to make the decision that you think he's going to make. More often than not, we see it the same way. That comes with time. That comes with, obviously, a lot of years working together on the practice field, in games and having a lot of conversations. His ability, in addition, his mental ability in addition to what he can do physically, to me, is what really has taken him to the next level in the past few years.
"I think it's definitely helped [him to take the next step]. Much like [former TE Antonio] Gates played the position at tight end, he plays it at receiver in a lot of ways. I think, obviously, he and Gates spent a lot of time together, too. I do think it has taken it to the next level. I think he knows that and so he's hooked on it, I guess is the best way to say it. Once he started seeing how much better it made him rather than just going out and running a corner-route or running an in-route — there is more to it than that. The fact that he knows so much and realizes how he can help him, he has really kind of taken off from there."
On the season:
"Obviously, we would like to have gotten off to a better start. Unfortunately, it's kind of familiar territory for us over the last, shoot, seven years or whatever. I think we've been in this spot about every year. Obviously, we would love to be 3-0. We had opportunities to, but we didn't. There are a lot of teams right now that are in that 1-2, 2-1 pack other than a handful that won them all. We know this is a long year. It's, by no means, the time to panic, but certainly, we know that you can't keep slipping up and keep saying that you've got time because eventually, you won't have time. We have to get it turned around. It has to start this week."
On Chargers with connections to the Miami area:
"Shoot, I know of a handful that come to mind and there's probably even more than that I don't even know. I think it's exciting for them. I know like [DB Desmond] Des [King II] going back to Detroit a few weeks ago, I think guys look forward to that. I know going back and playing in Nashville has always been fun because it's about as close to home that I can get. I think it's probably a positive for the guys, really. They'll be fired up to play in front of either their hometown crowd or family and all of that. I think it's more of a positive than it is a distraction."
On getting the ball out quickly:
"I think it has always been an attribute of mine. I've always wanted to get it out quickly. I've never wanted to stand back there and hang with the football. I think, for one, getting it to our guys as soon as they separate, and bad things happen when you stand back there too long. There are sack-fumbles and all kinds of things. I think it's a little bit of just my style. Then, I do think that week-to-week, year-to-year as they go, based on the style of play — I think, in a lot of ways, you have the same offensive scheme, but you have a different style. You can go back and look at our styles from year to year. Is it get the ball out quick with short dink-and-dunk [passes]? Is it a year where we're getting a lot of chunk plays? You never know. I think it kind of tweaks from week-to-week and year-to-year. I do think over time that you learn and have that feeling that somebody is coming free or that you can't hold it long. That's all part of thousands and thousands of reps over 20 years.
"It's a combination of the route and the play call. Are you in a max protect situation? Who is on the other side that's rushing? All of those things factor in."
On Miami:
"What I think is that it's the National Football League. I know that two years ago we were an 0-4 team that ended up being talked about as maybe the hottest team in the league by Week 17. I think it's way too early to get caught up in a record. I know they've had a lot things going on down there with injuries, guys getting traded and things like that. This team is more than capable of beating us and we're capable of beating them. That's why they're going to kick it off on Sunday and see what happens. We're a couple of plays here and there from being 3-0 and we're a couple plays here and there from being 0-3. It's early in the season. You always respect every opponent, every week regardless of your record. We will play a bunch of pros on Sunday. They'll use their best, we're going to give them ours and it will be a good game."
