WEEK 4 — PODIUM AVAILABILITY
Friday, September 27, 2019 | Hoag Performance Center | Costa Mesa, Calif.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN
On the running backs:
"[We have to re-evaluate it] a little bit, but at the same time, we understand that [RB] Melvin [Gordon III] has been back for a day and a half. We have to be careful. If he plays, how much he plays and if he even plays at all."
On if RB Melvin Gordon III could play on Sunday:
"I've said all along that there was a chance."
On Gordon in practice:
"You know, he has looked fine. He's in good shape. He hasn't been practicing football. Obviously, he's not ready to go back in there and carry the load right now. You never know."
On if Gordon will travel to Miami:
"Yeah, he's traveling with the team."
On RB Justin Jackson:
"Yesterday in practice — I think it's a calf-strain.
"He's out. He'll be out."
On WR Mike Williams:
"It's just sore. He fell awkwardly a couple of times, but it's just something that came up through the week. It's really sore right now. There's nothing structural, it's spasms. That's the good news. If he starts feeling better, then he will be fine."
On the similarity of Williams' injury to two seasons ago:
"It is the lower back, but I don't know. I'm not the doctor. I don't know if it's the same issue or what. It's the lower back."
On Williams' treatment:
"We've been taking care of him all week. He's been seeing people. We're trying to get it done."
On K Michael Badgley:
"It's just the same with Badgley. He's just not ready.
"He was never getting to that percentage where we felt like he could go kick. We decided just to back off completely. He is a competitor. He wants to be out there with his teammates. He wants to kick on Sundays. He was finally completely honest with us about he felt, so now we just need to take him out and rest him. That's why we signed [P] Ty [Long]. He did this in Canada. He's doing it now.
"I think [missing] any game is disappointing for a competitor that loves football and wants to play and be out there with his teammates. He's going to be disappointed, but I think that's any game."
On wide receiver depth:
"We have guys that we train and practice with on our practice squad. Some of those guys may have to step up and be activated. We'll see."
On when a decision would be made to activate Gordon:
"Yeah, we'll probably look at that Saturday after that practice and see what direction that we're going to go with on that."
On if the team received a two-week roster exemption for Gordon:
"Absolutely. We can remove him from that list at any time.
"We don't have to get rid of a guy. We can keep an extra player that we like and has been here. It's a good rule."
On if RB Detrez Newsome could be signed to the active roster:
"Absolutely. Detrez is traveling."
On if a wide receiver could be activated from practice squad:
"Yeah. If [WR] Travis [Benjamin] is not ready to go, yeah we will probably have to do something there as well."
On TE Lance Kendricks:
"Lance is almost like our starter right now. He got here a couple of weeks ago, but we've had to throw him in the fire. He's got to go. He's our second tight end right now and he's going to play a lot.
"Lance has been doing an outstanding job. He's a veteran. He's an eight-year pro. He's just not used to what we're doing, but he's learning every day. He's getting better in practice every day. I expect him to play and play well."
On CB Michael Davis:
"We have to watch him. It's his first week back, but I thought he had a heck of a week of practice. It's good to see him back out there running around and making plays. He will definitely play Sunday."
On CB Casey Hayward Jr.:
"He's been out all week, but he missed some time last week. He came in and played well. He's a guy that we're going to make a decision on probably Saturday as well."
On Gordon's fitness:
"His fitness level, he looks great. Like I said, he hasn't been practicing football. Just making those hard cuts and the little details of his position alignment-wise, aim points — we really had to drill those today and try to get him back into shape mentally for the position.
"He works hard. He's a hard worker, so that didn't surprise me at all.
"It's just football. He hasn't been hit. He hasn't made a cut and had to break a tackle. Things like that. We tried to put him through the gauntlet in practice to simulate hitting. It's still not real football. Ideally, you don't want to play the guy this week."
