The Lights Turn on For the Chargers and Ryan Mathews

  The bright lights of an NFL stadium were illuminated Wednesday night as the San Diego Chargers took the field at Qualcomm Stadium for their first public practice on their home turf.

  As the Chargers trickled out of the tunnel the best receptions came for established players such as quarterback Phillip Rivers, running back Darren Sproles, and tight end Antonio Gates. And making his first appearance at the ‘Q’ as a Charger, Bakersfield’s Ryan Mathews received a great response from the thousands in attendance.

   Mathews didn’t shy away from the attention either, regularly waiving at fans that yelled his name, and paying special attention to the ones that yelled “Bakersfield Baby!” or “West High,” and even “How about those Fresno State Bulldogs!” Mathews seemed very comfortable with both the fan fare and the practice itself. He even took time to sign an autograph for a blue-mohawk sporting youngster in the front row.

   Once practice got underway, Mathews appeared exceptionally sharp, both in his running and pass blocking drills, and even seemed to cure the dropped pass problem that plagued him in the previous practices, making several nice catches on out routes in the flats from quarterbacks Phillip Rivers and Billy Volek.

   In a full pads scrimmage with the defense Mathews had little trouble hitting the holes and found plenty of running space through the line of scrimmage. Only once was he tripped up for a loss, and that came from veteran linebacker Larry English.

   Mathews is already a fan favorite in San Diego, without even playing an actual NFL down. The fan base is trusting that the organization made the right decision in trading up to the number-12 spot in the NFL draft to take the Bakersfield product. One fan even suggested that he can’t believe how many of Mathews' jerseys he had seen in the crowd and in the city of San Diego.

   While he definitely had a lot of information to process in his first week of his first NFL training camp, Mathews didn’t appear to make any mistakes in his plays from scrimmage when he touched the ball, or his pass blocking responsibility of protecting Phillip Rivers.

   Just as was the case at West High School or at Fresno State, when the lights come on, Ryan Mathews is a flat-out player. His addition to the Chargers appears to be a valuable one, and it’s easy to see how bright a football mind he possesses, catching on quickly with the Chargers offense.

  More from Mathews today on ‘Home Turf’ live from Chargers Park starting at 3pm. Other guests tentatively scheduled are tight end Antonio Gates, linebacker Larry English and defensive end Luis Castillo.

 

              

 

Ryan Mathews emerges from the tunnel for the first time at Qualcomm Stadium.

Mathews Spends Extra Time Working After Practice on Receiving

 

Corey Costelloe

1230 ESPN

 While Ryan Mathews’ ability carrying the ball has never been in doubt, the Bakersfield rookie is having some issues catching passes out of the backfield at Chargers training camp. Mathews dropped three passes on Tuesday evening during practice and another during a passing drill with the starting offense on Wednesday.

   After the drop, head coach Norv Turner had some technique pointers for Mathews, who also spent time after practice working with a coach and ball machine on his receiving. Turner chalks a lot of Mathews receiving struggles on the rookie workload.   

   “Ryan’s got good hands, he’s got a good understanding of what we’re doing, we’ve thrown a lot at him in the last three or four days,” said Turner. “So he’s putting a little extra time to make sure he knows what he’s doing.”     

    Despite a rough couple of days receiving out of the backfield, Mathews continues to impress carrying the ball. He made a couple solid runs during a non-contact scrimmage this morning with a pair of nice cutbacks, and it appears when he’s determined to run downhill, his technique shifts into a powerful back.   

   Turner said in the long run Mathews will provide a nice compliment to the passing game.  

   “I’m excited about Ryan in the passing game, he’s an outstanding pass protector obviously being a big physical guy. When he and Phillip get on the same page as far as what Phillip expects him to do he’s going to give us a lot of explosive plays in the passing game.”

 

 

 

The Bus Stops In San Diego, Mortenson Praises Mathews

Corey Costelloe

1230 ESPN

 

   ESPN NFL Insider Chris Mortenson and his ‘Road to Camp’ bus made their stop today at Chargers Park. Mortenson spoke with quarterback Phillip Rivers who placed the obligatory Chargers logo on the back of the bus and autographed it as well.

   Mortenson spoke with ESPN 1230 and touched on Bakersfield’s Ryan Mathews and the impact he will make in San Diego.

  “Even before the Chargers drafted up to get him I was a huge Ryan Mathews fan,” said Mortenson. “As you got ready for the draft you realized he was the real deal and if he fell to the Chargers they certainly would jump on him. What I liked is the fact that they knew he was their guy and they jumped up, all the way near the top to go take him which I was impressed with...I think it was the right move.”

   Mortenson know that Mathews of course will not only have pressure to perform as a rookie with a big contract, but also step in to fill the role left by longtime Chargers running back LaDanian Tomlinson.

   “The main thing for Ryan will be to take care of the business mentally like the pass protection stuff and take care of all the little nuances because physically he has the gifts and ultimately running backs can make quick transitions if they just trust those things.”

    As far as replacing a legend goes, Mortenson says that Mathews is fortunate in the fact that LT’s legend sort of faded in his final years in San Diego. While Tomlinson was a fixture in the Charger community, Mortenson points out that those things didn’t come until LT proved he was a star.

   “All Ryan has to do is worry about football and all that other stuff falls into line,” said Mortenson.

   The Chargers continue with two-a-day practice with Wednesday night’s practice scheduled under the lights at Qualcomm Stadium.

  

 

 

What to Watch For, Chargers Camp, Tuesday August 3rd

  Wide receiver continues to be a hot spot for the San Diego Chargers. First there is not only the holdout from top wide receiver Vincent Jackson, but there is also his impending three-game suspension from the NFL stemming from his DUI arrest earlier this year. That means Jackson in camp or not, the Chargers are already preparing to shuffle wide receivers.

   In that shuffle, Malcom Floyd becomes the man, while many fans are questioning his ability to be a number-one guy, the reality is, he doesn’t have to. That honor belongs and always will to TE Antonio Gates, who led the team last season with a team-high 79 catches and the second-best yardage total at 1,157, just 10 back of Jackson’s 1,167. So Gates takes the pressure of any receiver worrying about replacing Jackson.

   Meanwhile, Floyd’s numbers weren’t bad last season; he caught 45 passes for 776 yards, but managed just one touchdown, understandable given the stars ahead of him. But so far this season it appears Floyd wants to be the man, catching nearly everything in his path through at him in training camp.

   “Unbelievable talented playing the ball,” says Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers. “When he’s up in the air he thinks it’s his, the plays never dead until the ball hits the ground or it’s in his hands. As a quarterback it certainly gives you the confidence to keep throwing them when you see him in those positions.”

   Apart from Jackson, the battle for the other receiver spots continue to be one major highlight of camp, with a battle brewing between to 4^th year receivers Buster Davis and Legedu Naanee. While both have been good early, Davis is healthy, and that’s got head coach Norv Turner very optimistic.

   “Buster’s had a great off season, I think he had good spring work with the OTA’s and mini camps and he’s picked up where he left off,” said Turner. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’ll stay healthy, that’s been the biggest thing that’s held him back. He’s got the toughness, he’s got the size and he’s got the speed and he’s off to a great start.”

 

 

 

 

Morning Session Monday, August 2nd

 

Corey Costelloe, 1230 ESPN

 The Chargers came out in helmets only this morning for what Norv Turner called more of a "mental practice than a physical one." Mostly technique and footwork drills for all individual positions followed by some team offense and team defense.

The highlight of the morning was the first play ran from scrimmage by the Chargers first team offense. What looked like a hand off to Ryan Mathews turned into a double-reverse flea-flicker, with the ball going from Mathews to Legedu Naanee who flipped it back to Phillip Rivers who found wide receiver Malcolm Floyd all alone 40 yards down field, a nice touch for the offense to get one over on the starting defense.

There is really a feeling that despite the fact the Bolts still have holdouts in Vincent Jackson, Marcus McNeill and Shawn Merriman, that the players on the field really don't care and are going about their business. At this point its easy to see the Chargers are more than deep at wide receiver and could play the entire season without Jackson if need be, they'll already need to play the first three games without him because of his league suspension for his DUI arrest last year. The offensive line continue to plug along, while its tough replacing a left tackle, let alone a veteran one,  third year man Brandyn Dombrowski has been filling the role, and others are taking some snaps as well including undrafted free agent Brady Bond from Oklahoma State. So it seems like the players are preparing for life without those three, considering they don't have much of a choice, but the Chargers would be better with all three holdouts on the team.

Speaking of offensive linemen, caught a glimpse of undrafted free agent tackle Nick Richmond, 6'8" 309 lbs. This guy looks like an NBA center on the O-line. Apparently he didn't even start at TCU, just filled in, and still got a contract because of his pure size and potential. If he doesn't pan out as a tackle, I can see him on the defensive line on punt return, just send him up the middle with his hands in the air, he has to block something.

More to come from Chargers Camp...including day one thoughts from Bakersfield's Ryan Mathews.