0:10

What's up, guys. Chris Henry with you on a brand

0:13

new episode of Chargers Weekly.

0:15

Coming up a bit later. Eli drake Witz,

0:17

the head coach of Missouri football, gonna

0:19

join me to talk Larry Rountree, the

0:21

third, but we start with

0:23

a beat writers round table. Joe Ready,

0:26

associator Press, Jeff Miller,

0:28

La Times, Daniel Popper, the athletic

0:31

gentleman. How are we doing today? Lovely

0:36

love dream No,

0:38

no, no complaints. In late

0:41

May, we're gonna get into the schedule.

0:43

I haven't talked to you guys about the schedule.

0:45

I know it's been out for a bit, but we'd love to get

0:47

your observations and your reactions

0:50

to what the schedule looks like and how

0:52

it kind of shakes out for the Chargers in twenty twenty

0:54

one. But let's just start with whatever

0:56

we could glean from rookie minicamp.

0:59

So to give ads a little bit

1:01

of context here, all four of

1:03

us were out there on Friday for

1:05

the observation portion of

1:08

the practice, and there's

1:10

not much to really take from it.

1:12

It was a lot of a lot of work.

1:14

It out a lot of conditioning

1:17

on the field. There's no helmets

1:19

or anything what I was most

1:21

interested in, I'll kick it off and then I'll

1:23

let Popper kind of respond to this is I

1:26

was more interested in the coaches and seeing

1:28

the coaching staff on the field for the first time

1:30

as opposed to the rookies, because rookies

1:32

heads are spinning. They're just trying to figure out, you

1:34

know, where the cafeteria is and all

1:37

the things that they have to worry about off the field.

1:39

The coaching staff. We've had this coaching staff

1:41

in place for a while. It was cool to kind of see them

1:43

out there work with the guys. Yeah,

1:46

I mean that's what I was doing. I was going around and I just identifying

1:48

every single coaches. We haven't talked to all of the position

1:50

coaches yet, so we don't know what like some

1:53

of them look like. So I was identifying them. I

1:55

mean, Brands Stilly has never been a head coach before. It's

1:57

the first time he's ever ran a practice as

1:59

I had coach, and so it was interesting to watch and see

2:01

how the operation functioned, to see

2:04

who was coaching where, to see which guys

2:06

we're going to be the loud, boisterous type of coaches, which

2:08

guys were going to be more quiet in your

2:10

ear type coaches. I mean that stuff matters

2:12

when you think about how all these pieces are going to fit together,

2:15

how this young coaching staff is

2:17

going to operate in their first year.

2:19

All that stuff matters, how the different personalities

2:21

meshed together. And Brandon Staley talked

2:24

to him a lot about, you know, all the work that

2:26

went into putting the staff together, and that it was a

2:28

thorough process and it's sort of interesting and

2:30

fascinating too. Then watch it all come together

2:32

in that first practice and see, Okay, this is what

2:34

he liked in Frank Smith the offensive

2:36

line coach, this is what he liked in Shane Day, the quarterbacks

2:39

coach, and actually see it materialize

2:41

on the field. I thought that was definitely one of the more interesting

2:44

parts of that first stay minicamp. Recommendicamp,

2:47

Joe. It's been one hundred and ten plus days since he was

2:49

announced is the head coach. So I

2:51

know you were kind of looking at it's Staley

2:53

and seeing him kind of operate as his debut

2:57

as the head coach. I guess on the dress, Yeah,

2:59

I think interesting thing for me is

3:01

when your first time head coach. Robert

3:05

Sala kind of said in New York. I

3:07

forgot that I had to break the huddle because

3:10

now Jeff got Staley

3:14

hasn't had that yet. But when you're a

3:16

head coach and you're going to different different

3:19

areas, or do you just stand in the

3:21

middle of the two fields taking

3:24

it all in as I've seen

3:26

some head coaches do. Just

3:29

how do you react? He said, He went to something

3:31

familiar first, to secondary and then

3:33

went to all the different position

3:35

groups to kind of see how

3:37

everything was going. Let's face it, rookie

3:40

mini camp. If we can

3:42

put this in as basic terms as possible,

3:45

it's like college orientation. Here's

3:48

how we do practice, here's

3:50

how you put your socks on, here's

3:53

how we do calisthenics, and

3:56

here's where your locker room is. And

3:59

as long as you get on the field and

4:01

don't trip up. We considered

4:03

at a successful orientation because let's

4:05

face it, half the teams don't even get on the

4:07

field anymore. It's mostly classroom

4:10

work and stuff. But I think for this coaching staff

4:13

it was important in these next two months are

4:15

important just to see how they function and organize

4:18

things so that when we get the training

4:20

camp there off and running. Jeff,

4:22

you asked him about that if you had that Robert

4:25

Sala, welcome to the NFL as a head coach.

4:27

Mootit and he said, no, sir. He

4:29

said he was prepared and he was

4:31

ready for this moment. And a couple

4:34

of things that also struck me. He said that it

4:36

was about relationship building. Obviously, first and foremost

4:38

is kind of building those relationships with the

4:41

players he's ever met these guys in person before.

4:43

And then also just how do we operate

4:46

as an organization, how do we operate

4:48

as a coaching staff? From

4:50

pr two people inside the building,

4:54

what were your kind of takeaways from the brief

4:56

practice we saw and then the presser. Yeah,

4:59

I think Joe said it best. It is like orientation,

5:02

and it is important for people. I know, people

5:04

want to know the details who look good and who

5:06

look bad. And they all look good. I mean, they're

5:08

all in great shape, they're young, they're they're they're

5:12

excited. I mean, how many times

5:14

in the last couple of weeks have we talk

5:16

to these guys and there's been some reference to dream?

5:19

This is my dream, I've dreamed of this. I mean, they're

5:21

living their dream, so of course they're they're

5:23

fired up and they're gonna they're they're flying all

5:25

over the place. They look great, you know, they're they're

5:28

in tremendous shape. They how can

5:30

you not be when you're that agent or that athletic.

5:33

So it is more,

5:36

I think what the chargers want to do and

5:38

what the teams who go through that

5:40

process for a couple of days is, they want

5:42

these young guys to go through it for a day

5:45

or two, three days, whatever it is, so

5:47

that one now, this week, next, next

5:49

week, the weekend, when these veterans come in there,

5:51

they understand how this works. They've already gone through it

5:53

a few times. They know, as Joe said, they know

5:56

how to Brandon said, they know

5:58

how do we stretch? You know, how

6:00

do we stretch? What kind of question is that? You know?

6:02

But that you know, that's that's where

6:05

That's what it is. It's very basic. So it's not it's

6:07

not so much let's learn the playbook and got

6:09

here and execute. It's more, guys,

6:12

here's the way the procedure works. Okay, now we've

6:14

done this for two times. Now here come the

6:16

real guys, the real pros. The varsity's coming

6:18

now. And now you guys, can you

6:20

can filter right? In and you can start these

6:23

these relationships. And they and Brandon

6:25

Staley made a comment about how these rookie

6:27

classes are kind of together, they stay

6:29

together as they develop in their careers.

6:32

Well, this was the first part of that. This was

6:34

the first the first stages of

6:36

them developing the relationships among themselves

6:38

as a rookie class, as a draft

6:40

class, and they can kind of carry those relationships

6:43

forward as they as they enter their professional

6:45

careers and move into something that none of them have ever

6:48

done before. And just to further

6:50

Joe's analogy here, there's no way to determine

6:52

if a person is going to successfully ace econ

6:54

two hundred based on how they do in the icebreaking

6:57

exercises in college orientation. So

6:59

there we got saying put a bow on it. But

7:01

if you have a good answer, it's an encouraging sign.

7:03

We're gonna look at you a little bit a little bit more on

7:05

the first day. Right. No, but to

7:08

your point in paper, you could you could piggyback

7:10

off this. It gets real during

7:13

the mini camp a little more real. Right. This

7:15

was an opportunity to make sure the rookies

7:17

when the veterans do come in the building, they

7:20

know what to expect. They know where

7:22

to get in line and how the team operates.

7:25

Um. But we're looking at guys like

7:27

Larry Rowntree and Palmer,

7:30

they're the only player in the position

7:33

group, Like Larry Routci's got like a bungee

7:35

around as a waist doing a running

7:37

back drills with the running backs coach. There's nobody

7:40

else there. So again, what

7:42

do you want from Friday? You know, everybody

7:44

looked good in shorts, like Jeff said. Yeah,

7:46

I mean Josh Palmer said himself that the hardest

7:48

thing about the weekend was trying to find the cafeteria.

7:51

Like that's why, that's what's going on. Um,

7:54

But yeah, I mean all

7:56

the acclimated when the veterans come in and then when

7:58

we get to watch a few more practices and we can start

8:00

gleaning some more information as far as what players

8:02

are going to be in, what positions, who's going to be on special

8:04

teams, how are these practices going to run.

8:07

You know, we can sit there and say, Okay, you know Brandon

8:09

Staley spent almost the entirety of practice working

8:11

with the defense. Okay, does that mean that he's going to

8:13

sort of hand the reins over to Joe Lombardie. That would make sense. Lombarti's

8:15

very experience. They obviously have a great relationship that dates back

8:17

to two thousand and five of mercy Hurst College, right, but

8:20

we can't say anything definitively until we

8:22

see them operate a few times. In fact, it's see

8:24

exactly how this is all going to work out. And

8:27

that's why you know, we'll start being able to make

8:29

more concrete observations as

8:31

we head into OTAs and then obviously that two day

8:33

better in mini camp that's mandatory and everyone

8:36

will be there and we can actually start to say, Okay,

8:38

this is what it's going to look like in twenty twenty one for the Chargers.

8:41

And I think the other key with the OTAs

8:43

two is unlike training

8:45

camp, the first three weeks, we only

8:47

see four out

8:49

of the ten OTAs. So

8:53

the Popper's point if

8:55

during one of those tas Staley

8:57

is working with the defense, only we

9:01

don't know if earlier

9:03

or later that week he was just working

9:05

with the offense. Because there's different install

9:08

points and everything that

9:10

they want to get through. And this is going to be an

9:12

interesting OTA just from the fact of

9:14

a new coaching staff and how much you want

9:16

to get installed to

9:19

begin with, so that when they go in

9:21

July, you know, off

9:24

on the same point. And I think also the rookies

9:27

come in with the same base knowledge as

9:29

maybe most of these other veterans

9:32

too. They're going to be learning the same time as

9:34

the same time as the veterans with a lot

9:36

of is off. That's a good point. Yeah,

9:39

absolutely so, Jeff, let's

9:41

get into the schedule a little bit. I know you guys have written

9:43

about it, but just your overall

9:46

impressions, what were the maybe

9:48

two or three things that stood out to you when

9:50

you saw kind of how everything lines

9:52

up for the Chargers in twenty twenty one. Well,

9:55

the first thing that jumped out to me was the first

9:57

game and the fact that they're playing. I mean, they're

9:59

gonna work, gonna find out real fast about this offensive

10:01

line that they've rebuilt. I mean they're going against

10:04

you know, Washington, which show we know what they

10:06

can do up front, and their defense

10:08

is uh, based on last season

10:10

was awfully good. So uh, you know, a

10:12

playoff team. I know they didn't have a great record, but

10:15

they still made the playoffs and they they have

10:17

they have a real good defense. We know that and they're going

10:19

to test that offensive line and so

10:22

um yeah, my first

10:24

thought was, you know, they go, they got to travel

10:26

across country and play a really good

10:28

team, a really good defense, and you

10:30

know, who knows what Washington's quarterback situation.

10:32

I mean, it's probably gonna be Fitzpatrick. Nobody's

10:34

gonna be afraid of that. But it's

10:36

it's that defense. It's that's good.

10:38

You know, that's worth. That's certainly

10:41

going to be the theme of that opening week, depending

10:43

on how everything goes in training

10:45

camp, but it certainly looks like it's gonna be

10:47

okay. Offensive line here, you guys, you

10:50

know we we've invested

10:52

money, even invested time and resources

10:54

into this. Now we're gonna find out right away how

10:57

how good they are, at least to start the season. It's

11:00

just gonna throw for four hundred and fifty yards and four

11:02

touchdowns and then we're gonna cut this clip up and tweeted

11:04

at Jeff's that's

11:06

very possible, and then two

11:08

weeks later, who if you won't be the quarterback anymore?

11:11

Exactly, Jeff.

11:14

You're right, though, we get Slater versus

11:16

Chase Young very early in the season,

11:19

and you want to test talk

11:21

about Dron Payne, Alan

11:23

Sweat and Young against this new

11:26

look offensive line, offensive rookie

11:28

of the year versus defensive rookie of the year. So Week

11:30

one is certainly a test going from

11:33

West to east. Two. Joe, what about you

11:35

man? First six

11:37

weeks leading to to buy or brutal? I

11:39

mean, we we all look at Washington,

11:43

but then Dallas at

11:45

Kansas City, Vegas

11:48

on Monday night, Cleveland

11:51

and then going to Baltimore. That's

11:55

you're you're gonna pretty much no after six

11:58

weeks were this team

12:00

stands because I

12:03

mean, this isn't your typical third

12:05

place schedule either. It's it's

12:08

pretty loaded because it's always

12:11

the combination of interleague

12:13

opponents that you get. And also,

12:16

I mean, this was a bad year for NFC

12:18

West to get the AFC North with

12:22

the with the with the year that, the year that

12:24

they had and everything, and then you look at the third

12:26

place teams. New England was in third

12:28

last year, UM, Houston

12:33

maybe a little bit of a layup, but we

12:35

we really don't know at this game.

12:37

For Tyrod Taylor though, could

12:39

be Um, we don't

12:42

know. If we don't know if Deshaun Watson's

12:44

going to be there, but we also don't know if Reliance

12:46

Stadium is going to be burned into ground by then.

12:48

With everything that goes

12:50

on, it goes on with that organizations

12:54

that gave us December twenty six two.

12:56

I mean, we got we got a lot of season before

12:58

we get to the Houston Texas, right.

13:00

But I think the thing that really jumped out

13:02

for me to three primetime games

13:05

ended home for this team.

13:08

I did ask some of the network people, because

13:11

I do the annual network heads

13:13

look at the schedule and give

13:15

their feelings about it, and

13:18

they said, they're they're banking on Herbert

13:20

and you know, on a young

13:23

quarterback, you want to buy high. They

13:25

hadn't bought high on

13:27

Josh Allen in the past. They bought

13:29

a little bit high a year ahead of schedule on Baker

13:32

Mayfield. But they think, you know, with the LA

13:34

market and everything, three

13:36

primetime games and all at home is pretty

13:38

good and it's going to be a pretty good showcase for this franchise.

13:42

Yeah, plus the flex scheduling two you

13:45

never know if you get an extra game or who

13:47

knows, maybe maybe you get one take it away. But I

13:51

highly doubted that Chiefs Chargers

13:53

game on Thursday was a Thursday

13:55

night football game. So I think that sticks regardless.

13:58

Poppa, what about you, man, what did you take

14:00

away from the schedule? Yeah,

14:03

these guys hit a bunch of big ones. You

14:05

know. My number one was three primetime games,

14:07

And like Joe alluded to, I mean, that is

14:09

just totally leaning into the

14:11

stardom of Justin Herbert. And

14:14

this kid has star power. Like, let's be real,

14:16

he's very exciting

14:18

to watch play football, I can say from

14:20

experience, and so it's it's

14:22

really intriguing that the NFL is acknowledging

14:25

that and giving Chargers fans three

14:28

primetime games at home. The

14:30

interesting thing with it is, Okay, you know, obviously

14:32

there's a lot of uncertainty about what Sofi Stadium is

14:34

going to look like. That that is a storyline that's hovering

14:36

above the franchise. And you've got,

14:40

you know, two sizeable fan

14:42

bases in terms of a posting fan bases

14:44

coming into Sofa between the Raiders and the Steelers.

14:46

So what does it look like. I think that's going to be

14:48

a fascinating part of these night games that we haven't touched

14:50

on yet. Joe's

14:52

mentioned the first six games of the schedule. Let's

14:55

go all the way through week eleven. They got the buy in

14:57

week seven, but the four games after the buy are

14:59

not easy. You gotta host Bill

15:01

Belichick, right we know exactly what

15:03

Bill Belichick can do based

15:06

on what happened in that Patriots Chargers game last year. You

15:08

know, you don't expect that to happen again. But this

15:10

guy is going to come in with this team very prepared. And

15:13

then you got you know, the Eagles game

15:15

and in Philadelphia, never an easy trip across

15:17

the country. And then you host the Vikings.

15:19

Zimmer defense is always going to be great. And

15:22

then you got the Steelers defense, who had

15:25

one of the best defenses in the league. Obviously lost a couple of pieces

15:27

and Bud Dupreede and Stephen

15:29

Nelson, but still a really, really good team, especially

15:31

Ben Roethisberg can turn around. So you look at the first eleven

15:34

weeks of this season, it's like good

15:36

grief, like it's gonna be It's it's

15:38

a challenge right away. I think we're gonna know, like

15:41

Joe said, exactly what this team is after

15:43

the first six weeks of the season. And we're certainly

15:45

gonna know through those first eleven

15:47

weeks. The other thing is, you know, having

15:50

gone through another schedule release now like

15:52

the charge You're never gonna see the Charger schedule come

15:54

out and be like, wow, that's

15:57

they got an easy break this year. Just because the

15:59

AFC West is going to be good every single

16:01

year. I mean, anytime you're playing the Chiefs twice,

16:03

it's going to be a tough schedule. Um. And

16:05

I think that's something that I'm starting to realize is like, even if

16:07

you're playing, you know, a worst

16:09

division, even if you finished in third

16:11

or fourth and in the division are playing some easier

16:14

teams in that part of the schedule. I mean, the

16:16

AFC West is going to come at you every single

16:18

year, and you know at the top of that division is

16:20

the Chiefs. So those are my takeaways. Yeah,

16:23

Joe made the point the the AFC North obviously

16:26

tough. Even even the NFC East that it was

16:28

the worst division of football last year, you

16:30

still have some tough opponents. I

16:33

noticed this though. You know Brandon Sailor, we know he's

16:35

a first year head coach, but he did

16:37

play the NFC East last year, so you have that

16:40

familiarity a little bit with that division.

16:42

I know it wasn't a very good division. They went four and oh.

16:44

I think they allowed less than fourteen points a

16:46

game. But the fact that he

16:49

knows a little bit about the

16:51

NFC opponents this year, I think is a positive.

16:54

But also he's coming into a new

16:56

situation where you're you're playing Patrick Mahomes

16:58

twice a year. You know Baker

17:01

Mayfield is not going to be easy. Lamar

17:03

Jackson's not gonna be easy. So

17:05

there's a lot of interesting games

17:08

on the schedule. Get we get through. Another

17:10

thing I noticed too, Joe, there's only one

17:12

back to back road sequence

17:15

in week twelve and thirteen. You go at Denver at

17:17

Cincinnati, so you're not on the road for

17:19

an extended period of time, but at the same time,

17:22

you're on the East Coast three

17:24

times in the first nine weeks. Yeah,

17:26

if this team did catch a break with something,

17:29

it was the spacing

17:32

out of the of the East scheduling.

17:35

You go in week one, which I think everybody

17:37

figured since they went Cincinnati

17:40

last year for the opener.

17:43

They don't go to Cincinnati until early

17:46

December, which you

17:48

could catch a break with the weather. It's

17:50

gonna be windy, though, is typical

17:53

in Cincinnati. Could be, could

17:55

be and if if I can pull up Doppler

17:58

radar five here could

18:00

be low fifties, cloudy

18:03

with a little bit of wind coming

18:05

off the Ohio. But Philly,

18:07

they get Philly, they get earlier.

18:10

I mean, that is the one

18:12

thing. It's not like they're taking a December

18:14

trip to Buffalo where

18:17

last year that wind in Buffalo was

18:19

just or Kansas City, Joe first of city

18:22

in December since twenty sixteen.

18:25

Yeah, good point on that too. They

18:27

go to Kansas City early, and you

18:30

know in December, the game at Houston's

18:32

going to be a retractable roof, and last home

18:34

game of the year is in Vegas, which is a which

18:38

is a dome

18:41

for lack of a better term. So the

18:44

road games are spaced out, which is which

18:46

is very good for them and a

18:48

benefit. But you know,

18:50

those first six weeks though, I

18:53

mean, the Anthony linear began,

18:55

oh and four. You hope the

18:58

Brandon Staley era and doesn't begin in

19:00

that way. But you know, with

19:02

those first four opponents,

19:05

it's not the realm of possibility where

19:07

they could go four and two to start. We just don't

19:09

know at the moment. If you get through their two

19:11

and four. If you get through their two

19:14

and four, I mean that is I think that's a

19:16

win. Honestly, you

19:19

know, I'm looking though at Washington.

19:22

Yes, it's tough, but that's

19:25

that's a game I think the Chargers should

19:28

win. No, yeah,

19:30

I mean I wrote, I wrote, you

19:32

know I think they who wouldn't take three and three

19:34

right now? I mean, if you write, I mean, you come out of three

19:37

and three, you'd be like, wow, we're in really good shape. So

19:39

I think Pop's point is is

19:41

good. I mean, they could play really well and be two

19:44

and four. You know, we could

19:46

be sitting here, you know, talking about

19:48

how this team looks great and they really

19:50

have done all these great things and they've only won twice in the

19:52

six games. I mean, it's very possible. It's

19:54

just it's it's hard to tell from here. Who

19:56

knows, you know, you don't know who's going to be healthy and

19:59

things happen doing this. We're doing this and it's

20:01

made nineteenth. We're doing this. I mean, we

20:04

have no idea. Who knows? You know? Is

20:06

I jokingly tweeted after it came out. It'll

20:08

be interesting too what happens at Washington Line After

20:10

the Aaron Rodgers trade. Ye,

20:13

who knows a lot of times, like

20:16

who knows what's gonna happen. I mean, there's all kinds of stuff,

20:18

so uh but yeah, it's uh

20:21

yeah, you know. I mean I think if they

20:23

if you said, hey, you're gonna be three and three going

20:25

into near by, I think they would

20:27

be like, Okay, that's we survived. That. We got

20:29

through that pretty good. Because I mean that, you

20:32

know, optimistically, Okay, maybe the

20:34

Washington game, the Raiders game, and

20:36

then it's like one of those other they could

20:39

win one of those other four. Yeah,

20:41

that's you know, they've been pretty good. Shay. Probably

20:44

three of those first six games are also ten

20:46

am Pacific time starts, which

20:50

is noteworthy. Like I'm not gonna lie like people

20:52

don't really. I never used to look at that because

20:54

I was always an East Coast guy, but since moving in the West Coast,

20:57

like looking at how many ten am

20:59

starts you have in a short period of time, like that matters

21:01

because your body clock is like, all right, I want to be ready

21:03

to play it one pm Pacific

21:05

times. You have to like you have to build that into your

21:07

practices. So I mean the Washington

21:09

games ten am start, Kansas City's ten am

21:12

start and in Baltimore's a ten am start. Well,

21:15

as Popper knows from living in New York

21:17

too, where you've got

21:19

two teams that share a stadium. The

21:22

one thing that always jumps out to me every

21:24

year is, especially

21:27

now is so Fi. How

21:29

many weeks is so Fi

21:31

dormant? And it's

21:33

three weeks again this year. I

21:36

think there's two or three weeks when there's back

21:38

to back. I know that Raiders

21:42

Monday night game, the Rams play the Sunday

21:45

before. So it's all all too about

21:47

just balancing, you

21:50

know, who gets at ten am spot

21:52

who gets at one pm? Because

21:54

the league has been very good with trying

21:56

to avoid the

21:59

one o'clock putting

22:01

both had

22:04

to head against each other, Jets and

22:06

Giants. There's just a rule

22:08

somewhere in the league constitution that they

22:11

will never be head to head unless they're

22:13

playing each other. But with the Rams and

22:15

Chargers, and

22:18

Chris would know this, know

22:20

this better, just with the with the work he

22:22

does with CBS two. Just you

22:25

know, if you're two and if you're

22:27

Fox eleven, you really

22:30

want to avoid dead head to head and going against

22:32

each other. Yeah, yeah,

22:35

no, no, no no question about it. And then also it's

22:37

also not worthy that there's only three preseason

22:39

games this year. We don't have any last year. We have that

22:41

extra opponent this year in the Minnesota Vikings,

22:44

which Papper mentioned November fourteenth,

22:46

after that Eagles game on the road.

22:48

So I'll be interested to see how they approach

22:50

the preseason as well. How much

22:53

time are you giving the starters

22:55

in let's say,

22:58

I don't know. Usually that third Priestson

23:00

game typically was that dress rehearsal. What is

23:02

it now? Is it the it's at Rams,

23:04

forty nine ers at Seahawks? Is it that forty

23:06

nine ers game at home? Where you

23:08

play your starters a little bit more? That that's going

23:11

to be an interesting I think storyline of this as well

23:13

too. Popper. Yeah, I mean, you

23:15

think about it, and I'd have to dig into

23:17

it a little bit more to figure out exactly what the plan is, but

23:19

it would seem to me like that you would just eliminate that

23:21

fourth game because that fourth game is usually just

23:24

you know, where you get the bunch

23:26

of the bottom of the roster guys, the guys closer

23:28

to me seventy five to nine. By

23:30

the way, dates dates are not out for that yet, so

23:33

we don't know what those dates are, right.

23:35

I mean, you could just do the same thing and you know, have

23:37

your quarterback play a series in week

23:40

one of the preseason, a quarter in week

23:42

two, a half in week three, and then just

23:44

sort of cancel out that fourth game where you

23:46

typically just have bottom of the roster guys fighting

23:49

for those last two three spots on the roster. But

23:51

we'll see, we'll see what happens. I mean, it's

23:53

gonna be tougher with the three preseason game.

23:55

It's gonna be tougher for guys lower on the roster to

23:57

really show themselves and make the team. That's just the reality,

24:01

all right, guys. Final thing, we'll go around the horn to

24:03

end it. Just if you could pick one

24:05

game, the most anticipated

24:08

game, the game you're looking forward to the most,

24:10

Jeff, just just from covering

24:12

it, what would it be? Wow,

24:15

I'm gonna take the Chiefs

24:17

the first Chiefs game, Um, just because

24:20

three we know what the Chiefs are and

24:22

we get to see another Herbert

24:25

and My Homes show. And

24:27

I think it was so good the last time

24:29

or at least the Yeah, I mean it wasn't the only time

24:31

they played, right, because my Homes didn't play the last

24:33

game, so we get to see another one of those.

24:35

And I'm sure that's

24:38

gonna be a game that Justin Herbert's gonna

24:40

really want to after last year they

24:42

were so close to winning that game and U

24:45

a late mistakes. That's a game I'm sure

24:47

that he's looking forward to, I think, and I think it's

24:49

just uh, I think there'll

24:51

be a lot of anticipation for that game. And uh

24:53

so, yeah, that's that's the one I'll take.

24:56

The I'll take the easy one. I'll take the the you

24:58

know, the super a representative

25:01

and the and all that and Mahomes

25:03

and everything that the Chiefs braying, and then

25:05

I think that'll be that's the one that I'll go

25:07

with. Yeah, for the first game in the

25:10

division, after two games against NFC East

25:12

opponents, so we'll know, we'll know very quickly,

25:14

uh how they stack up against

25:17

Kansa City Chiefs. Joe, what about

25:19

you, Ben Bias

25:22

Wise, I should say October tenth in Cleveland

25:25

because a lot of the Cleveland Fox Show

25:27

host or already

25:30

trying to scope out Radio Row

25:32

and uh so FI for

25:34

their Super Bowl week plans. But

25:38

I'm gonna say I'm gonna say October

25:40

fourth in Vegas. Herbert did

25:42

very well in primetime games last

25:45

year. This will be their

25:47

second major national

25:49

opportunity because the Dallas game

25:52

will be the Fox foxer

25:54

CBS doubleheader game Week

25:57

two, but a lot of

25:59

national eyeballs will be on that game,

26:01

and as Popper said

26:04

too, how much of the Raiders

26:06

contingent shows up at so far

26:09

for that first the

26:11

first primetime game for the Chargers, it's

26:13

so far too Popper into Forest

26:15

Bud Okay, So my pick

26:17

is obviously at the Chiefs in Week three,

26:20

but Jeff's been reading the Athletic and stole

26:22

my pick there. But the interesting thing for that

26:25

you are the only one who came up with no.

26:28

The interesting thing for me about that game is it's really the first time

26:30

we're gonna get a Mahomes Herbert matchup where

26:33

both guys have had a full week to prepare for the

26:35

game. Because you remember in that Week

26:37

two game last year, Herbert got thrown in the fire five

26:39

minutes before took off. Hey bod, you're starting, and then

26:41

Mahomes sat in Week seventeen last year. So that's why

26:43

I'm eyeing that one. But to bring up two

26:45

other ones, all right, that I'm really eyeing Patriots

26:49

at home Week eight because they the

26:51

Chargers got whooped last year by the Patriots,

26:54

I mean forty five to nothing. And there are guys

26:56

that we're playing in that game that are still on this team. But

26:58

let's I know it's a different coaching staff. There are guys

27:00

that are going to remember that game and are gonna want to

27:02

show up against the Patriots and send a message

27:04

about a changing culture in a different direction to

27:07

this organization. But the one game I'm really

27:09

looking forward to, plus Hunter Hendrick comes

27:11

back. Hunter Henry coach back too for that one,

27:13

correct, Yeah, yeah, So a lot of storylines there. And

27:16

then at the Broncos Week twelve, Vic

27:18

Fangio the mentor versus Brandon

27:20

Staley the mente. I think if these battles,

27:22

as long as Staley and Fangio are in their current roles,

27:25

are going to be absolutely fascinating because they are

27:27

intimately familiar with each other as coaches, intimately

27:29

familiar with the schemes. So it's going to be a

27:32

chess match, the type of stuff that football

27:34

nerds absolutely obsessed over. So I'm really

27:36

looking forward to that first Broncos Chargers

27:38

matchup in week twelve, and just

27:40

at Herbert versus Joe Burrow remains

27:43

available. Anybody

27:45

that's

27:47

still that's still on the board, and I wasn't even

27:49

gonna take that, what I say week one

27:51

because of the old offensive line

27:54

versus defensive line matchup. I'm fascinated

27:56

by seeing this new look O line

27:58

against like one of the best of tons of lines of

28:00

football right off the bat. And then you have the Rashaun

28:03

Slater Chase Young justin Herbert Chase

28:06

Young storyline. And it's that first

28:08

game. You know, everybody's anticipating

28:10

what this team and this roster is gonna look like, how

28:13

coach Daley's gonna manage a game.

28:15

So we get all those answers on September

28:17

twelfth, plus the Chiefs game

28:20

on Thursday Night Football Week fifteen,

28:22

that's still on the board too, And that's a game where

28:24

you know, three years ago these guys played

28:27

at Arrowhead week fifteen, Thursday Night Football,

28:29

and we all know the result. Mike Williams

28:31

three touchdowns of that two point conversion. So

28:34

I appreciate you guys joining me. Joe

28:36

Rady, Associated Press, Jeff Miller,

28:38

La Times, Daniel Popper, the

28:40

athletic We'll do it again soon. Appreciate

28:43

it, all right, thank thank you, thank

28:45

you. All

28:47

right. Very pleased to be joined by the head coach

28:49

of the Missouri Tigers, Eli Drake

28:51

Woods joins me. A coach, I appreciate

28:54

your time. Why don't we just start with this. Take

28:56

me back to a few weeks ago. I

28:58

think it was a Saturday when Larry Routsi

29:01

was drafted by the Chargers. Man,

29:03

I was so excited. You know, we talk about in

29:05

our program chasing two dreams, a life

29:07

with football and a life outside of football.

29:10

And these guys have this great guide

29:12

given ability to play this game at a high level,

29:14

and their dream is to play in the NFL.

29:16

And so for them to have the realization of that dream

29:19

in that moment, it's just such a special

29:22

thing. And not only for him,

29:24

but his parents and his support group

29:26

and in our program, and we

29:28

were extremely proud for him. And then you

29:30

know, you dive into the fit. I think

29:32

he's going to be a tremendous fit out in

29:35

LA and with this football club, and I

29:37

know he'll team well with Justin Herbert and

29:40

the rest of those talented football players he's got

29:42

out there. But putting

29:44

an excellent football player for that program for a long

29:46

time. You know, you talk

29:48

about the fit. Obviously Justin Herbert under

29:51

center, but the Chargers they draft

29:53

for Shawn Slater in the first round,

29:55

a young left tackle, they've kind

29:57

of retold the entire offensive line. So

30:00

you talk about the situation you get drafted

30:02

into. Sometimes it's not about if you get drafted

30:04

in the first, second, fifth, sixth round.

30:07

It's kind of the fit with the team. And

30:09

I think Larry fits very nicely in that running

30:11

backs room. Yeah, you know, we talk about

30:14

even with those guys is all you're looking for

30:16

is an opportunity and what you do with that opportunity

30:18

is between you and God. And Larry's

30:21

got a tremendous opportunity in front of him. He's going to

30:23

be a tremendous asset for both that left

30:25

tackle and for Justin to take

30:27

the pressure off of them as far as having

30:29

to throw the football and protect. You know, he's a

30:31

guy that can get the tough yards. It's

30:33

not always pretty when you're handing the football as far as

30:35

the blocking scheme, but he's going to make sure it's a positive

30:37

play. And he's just got a great smile

30:40

and personality, and he's going to be

30:42

an excellent person in the locker room for those guys

30:44

to lean on. You know, it was voted team captain by

30:46

his peers for us and just a guy

30:48

that was a joy to

30:50

be around. I was just that

30:52

was my next question. He was named team captain

30:55

his senior year. Why do you think he was selected

30:57

as a team captain? I think he need

31:00

time. You're voted by your peers to be team captain,

31:02

it's a reflection of your work ethic and really

31:04

who you are as a person, and how they

31:06

respect the way your game is on

31:09

the field, but what also your game is off

31:11

the field, And he's one of those guys that does

31:13

both of those. So

31:16

if it wasn't for Missoo

31:18

legend Brad Smith the quarterback, Larry

31:21

would be the all time leading rusher

31:24

at Missouri. I don't know if you could, just

31:26

for our viewers and our listeners put that into

31:28

perspective, but what Larry was able to accomplish

31:31

there in a school with such a risk

31:33

tradition of football. I mean, anytime

31:35

you're the best to ever do it, you know or

31:37

have that's to ever do it, that's pretty

31:39

special. They've been playing football for a long time

31:41

here at the University of Missouri, and for that running

31:43

back, for him to have that many

31:46

yards, and obviously Brad Stevens did it in a

31:48

different style and a different position, but for Larry

31:50

to have that is something

31:52

that they're not gonna be able to take away from him for all a very

31:55

long time. And it

31:57

just speaks to the character, work ethic, but also

32:00

toughness. I mean, you're talking about a guy who played in TENNESSEEC

32:02

games, had thirty four carriers

32:04

versus Kentucky and then turned around the very next week

32:06

and did it again. And so this guy is very

32:09

durable. He's got tremendous work ethic.

32:11

But he also the team matters to

32:13

him, and he's committed to that team process

32:16

and he's going to lay it on the line every week for him

32:19

And coach, this was a player you did not recruit.

32:21

So to have him in your program

32:23

and to have a guy that was established and

32:26

really bought into what you were doing, what

32:29

did that mean to you? Well,

32:31

I mean, obviously for me personally, it was a

32:34

point of pride and just being able to build

32:36

that relationship with Larry and be able to connect

32:38

with him and get that response

32:41

from him for him buying into our team goals.

32:43

But you know it also speaks to him and

32:45

how much success he's going to potentially have at the

32:47

next level because he's able to buy into

32:50

what your head coach, Coach Day's preaching

32:53

and he's going to be a great ambassador

32:55

from the coaching staff to the locker room. And

32:58

it's more than just playing running back at

33:00

the next level. We're talking about special teams,

33:03

being that selfless teammate. In his

33:05

introductory press conference

33:07

with the media, Larry talked about the fact that he used

33:09

to play special teams. He's not afraid of it.

33:12

When you get a player like that, especially

33:14

drafted in the fifth round. I think Larry

33:16

seems to be very self aware that

33:18

he's got to do everything to make an NFL

33:21

roster. Yeah, I mean, we had those

33:23

conversations with all of our guys who were later

33:25

round picks. The special teams

33:27

is the way to the roster, right There's there's

33:30

fifty six coveted spots, I believe,

33:32

and the only way to get that is to have some sort

33:34

of special team's value. And so you know,

33:36

he knows how to do it. Obviously for us, we

33:38

didn't want to add any extra hits to him because

33:41

we were handing a few times. But for

33:43

y'all and what you're going to need him to do, he's going

33:45

to be a very willing player to contribute

33:48

in special teams. From a

33:50

pure running backs perspective, Coach,

33:53

one of the NFL characteristics that

33:55

you think Larry possesses, well,

33:57

I think toughness won and then vision

34:00

and two. I think he's gonna be a running

34:02

back that he's gonna be able to you

34:05

know, negate negative yardage plays because he's

34:07

such a tough running style and a heart attackle

34:09

and the first guys very

34:12

gonna have a very difficult time tackling him. I mean,

34:14

he's got a big frame, physical

34:17

uh, tough runner. You

34:19

know. I hate to make comparisons

34:21

because that's not fair to him or the people I'm making comparisons

34:24

to. But he's such a strong, physical runner.

34:26

I think you're going to be very excited about what he brings.

34:30

And Coach final, thank for you just

34:32

a favorite memory that you had with Larry

34:35

in this short time that you spent

34:37

with him. Obviously, last year was so unconventional

34:40

for for everybody in the world sports,

34:42

specifically college football. But

34:45

I'm sure you had some good ones with Larry last year, you

34:48

know. I think about

34:51

the touchdowns he scored against Kentucky.

34:54

I think about the win versus LSU. I

34:56

think about the four minute offense

34:58

against South Carolin Line, you

35:00

know. But probably the best game that he had for

35:02

US well against Vanderbilty he

35:05

had a big time game

35:07

also and three touchdowns

35:09

I think, but probably the Kentucky game

35:11

just the load he had to carry. I think he had thirty

35:13

four rushes in that game for over one hundred

35:15

yards and really chewed out the clock. And

35:17

he knew that we were going to really lean on him

35:19

to win that football game, and he did it for

35:22

us and showed up that next Tuesday

35:24

to practice and didn't miss a rep. And

35:26

so to have that commitment

35:29

to our football team was was special. Well,

35:33

coach, I can't thank you enough for your time. I know how

35:35

busy are even in the off season, and you

35:37

know, the hope is maybe I don't know, we three

35:40

we're in Kansas City. Maybe

35:42

maybe we see uh at Arrowhead

35:44

State, Maybe we see you down in the line at some point.

35:47

Cheered on Larry Well. I mean if

35:49

y'all can give me some sideline passes, I'm sure I can make

35:51

it. We'll talk

35:53

to the coaches either think can make that happen. Coach,

35:55

thank you so much, appreciate you. You'll

35:57

be good and that's gonna do it for

36:00

us. It was a fun episode. A big thanks to Coach

36:02

drink Witz for joining me, Jeff

36:04

Miller, Daniel Popper, Joe Ready

36:06

as well, and of course thanks to you all

36:08

for listening. Be sure to download and subscribe

36:10

to the Chargers Podcast Network wherever

36:13

you listen to podcasts. Have a great weekend,

36:15

and until next time, I'm Chris Hayrey.