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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Chargers were in pads Monday for the first time this training camp. Those familiar thuds of football practice resounded from all parts of the team’s three grass fields. The thuds were loudest in the far end zone, away from the fan bleachers, where the offensive line and defensive line faced off in a one-on-one pass rush period.
This was one of what will be many welcome-to-the-NFL moments for rookie tackle Joe Alt over the coming weeks and months.
Alt was first up in the one-on-one drill and he matched up with edge rusher Joey Bosa. Alt was at right tackle.
In the spring, Bosa had this to say about Alt: “Seems like he has good hands, good feet, strong. We’ll see in a few weeks when I lay a helmet in his chin how he holds up. But I’ll take it easy on him.”
Bosa kept his word. On that first rep of the one-on-one period, Bosa bull-rushed into Alt’s chest. Pure power. Alt was knocked back at first contact. Bosa was able to crunch the pocket around coach Jim Harbaugh, who was lining up at quarterback for the drill. Alt did replant his feet and recover to a degree, but Bosa had already created significant push.
Bosa and Alt matched up again for the next rep. Each matchup in the period got back-to-back reps. Bosa played off his first move. He feinted power before driving hard to the inside. Alt showed some quick recognition and the movement skills that were a big reason he was a top-five pick in April. Alt was able to get hands on Bosa and prevent a clean win to the inside.
“The defense, yeah, you’re going to be better than us right now,” Harbaugh said of Alt’s first one-on-one reps. “Joey Bosa’s going to be better. But I thought Joe Alt acquitted himself well.”
That was a theme for Alt in his first NFL padded practice.
He moved between both right and left tackle while Rashawn Slater continues working through a minor injury. Slater participated in the one-on-one period. He was limited to just one of the five 11-on-11 periods. Alt was at right tackle when Slater was in team drills. Trey Pipkins III was at right guard.
When Slater was sitting out, Alt played left tackle for two periods and right tackle for two periods. When Alt was at right tackle, Pipkins was at left tackle. When Alt was at left tackle, Pipkins was at right tackle. Jamaree Salyer was at right guard for all four periods Slater missed.
Moving around allowed Alt to pass protect against the Chargers’ three veteran rushers — Bosa, Khalil Mack and Bud Dupree — during 11-on-11. Overall, Alt held up just fine for a rookie seeing something resembling full NFL speed for the first time.
in the trenches
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) July 29, 2024
He gave up a sack against Bosa in the red zone. Mack also beat him for a pressure on a third down in an earlier 11-on-11 period. There were also plenty of encouraging reps. Early in practice, Alt stood up Dupree in pass protection on a first down. That gave quarterback Justin Herbert time to find receiver DJ Chark over the middle on a late-developing comeback route. In the final period, Alt won in pass protection against Bosa. Herbert had time to fire over the middle to receiver Ladd McConkey. But McConkey dropped the pass with safety Derwin James Jr. closing on him.
Elsewhere along the offensive line, third-year guard Zion Johnson had a tremendous showing in the one-on-one period. He dominated Morgan Fox on both of his reps.
Pipkins looked solid on his two reps against Scott Matlock. Harbaugh was simulating the snap count and actually got Matlock to jump offsides before one of the reps. On the first rep, Pipkins got his hands on Matlock early and prevented the initial push. Matlock gained some ground on a second effort. On the second rep, Pipkins stood Matlock up.
Fireworks came when Slater matched up with Mack. On the first rep, Slater maintained balance after Mack’s get-off and was able to force him wide. On the second rep, Mack came with a power bull rush. That has been Mack’s trademark through his career. The collision was loud. Mack drove Slater back. Slater withstood the initial surge and anchored down. Just a competitive rep.
“It was good give and take,” Harbaugh said of the period. “Just what you want to see.”
One player got a shoutout from Harbaugh in his post-practice news conference: rookie tackle Tyler McLellan.
McLellan had two strong reps against Chris Rumph II. He gave up virtually no ground on both of Rumph’s moves.
“Way to go, Tyler,” Harbaugh said. “Two really good reps that had.”
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News and notes
• Slater jogged back inside the facility about midway through Monday’s practice. He did not return to the field. At times so far this camp, Harbaugh has sent veterans inside the facility before the end of practice so they can continue working out in the weight room. He refers to this ramp-up for veterans as the “glide theory.” When asked if Slater leaving midway through practice was part of the “glide,” Harbaugh read from a written statement on his approach to discussing injuries.
“I did a really cool thing,” Harbaugh said. “I kind of wrote up, so we’re all on the same page and we all have some really good clarity going forward. I’m really a better writer than I am talker, in my opinion.
“So for clarity, whenever I’m asked about anyone’s medical condition other than my own, the following will be my best effort to relay information: I am not medically qualified to categorize or speculate as to how someone else is feeling. The best I can do is say that someone is working through something. Two, I get the report from those who are qualified, and then follow the instructions. Three, if at times I look or sound like I am not a medical expert in the field of medicine, guilty as charged.”
great day for football pic.twitter.com/SPgrbYA4uE
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) July 29, 2024
• Running back Gus Edwards did not participate in team drills for the fifth straight day. Tight end Donald Parham Jr. was in pads and a helmet but worked off to the side. Junior Colson, who is on the non-football illness list after undergoing an appendectomy, was also working off to the side in a T-shirt and shorts. Offensive lineman Karsen Barnhart missed his fifth straight practice.
• Alohi Gilman was not at practice Monday because of the birth of his child, according to Harbaugh. AJ Finley got a majority of the first-team reps at safety in Gilman’s absence.
• Receiver Quentin Johnston had a bad drop during 11-on-11 drills. The Chargers were in a period Harbaugh calls “Play The Next.” The offense takes over on a third down. If they do not convert, they face a fourth down. If the offense converts on third or fourth down, the unit gets a new set of downs. Herbert and the first-team offense faced a third-and-5 to open a series. Johnston beat cornerback Kristian Fulton down the left sideline on a go route. Herbert delivered one of his best and most accurate throws of camp, dropping in over Fulton and into Johnston’s hands. It clanged off Johnston’s hands and fell incomplete. Johnston was audibly frustrated after the drop.
Earlier in practice, Johnston made back-to-back catches from Herbert, including a first-down conversion on a comeback. Johnston has made plays in this camp. The deep ball, still, is one he absolutely has to come down with — to earn the trust of Herbert and the coaching staff.
GO DEEPER
Chargers training camp: Quentin Johnston’s strong start, Cam Hart makes play of the day
• Rookie safety Thomas Harper intercepted Easton Stick on a deep ball in the first 11-on-11 period of practice. Rookie receiver Brenden Rice was the intended target. Stick’s ball was overthrown. Harper did a nice job of finding the ball and making the play.
• The defense had the upper hand in the run game Monday. To be expected, given this was the offensive line’s first day in pads. Rumph was particularly active in run defense. He had one stuff on running back Jaret Patterson. He created penetration off the edge later on a Kimani Vidal run, which led to a stuff from linebacker Troy Dye. Dupree also had a run stuff on Vidal.
• The Chargers went fully live with tackling for one play during 11-on-11. It was the third-team offense and defense. The offense faced a third-and-2. Before the play, Harbaugh announced to both sidelines that the play would be fully live. There was a burst of excitement after the announcement. Rookie quarterback Casey Bauman handed off to Vidal. He bounced outside and picked up the first through a tackle from cornerback Zamari Walton. Harbaugh called a holding penalty on offensive lineman Brent Laing, which negated the first down.
That was the only live play of the day. But there were opportunities for more live plays during the closing 11-on-11 red zone period. Harbaugh calls this period “Red Zone Lockout.” Offense starts at the 25-yard line. It is thud pace, so not tackling — until the offense moves inside the 10. Then it becomes live. The pace was only going to be live for the second and third teams. For the first team, it is walkthrough pace inside the 10. As Harbaugh said of his starters: “They’re on different levels.”
Both the second- and third-team red zone drives stalled well before the 10-yard line. Bosa’s sack, on a third-and-2, ended the first-team offense’s first red zone drive. On the first-team offense’s second red zone drive, Herbert covered a third-and-9 to Chark over the middle. Chark made a sliding catch. That moved the offense to the 9-yard line. It was walkthrough pace from there.
• Edge rusher Andrew Farmer II had a sack in 11-on-11. He also showed off a nifty inside pass rush move in one-on-ones, beating tackle Foster Sarell.
(Photo: Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
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Courtesy : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5667100/2024/07/29/chargers-joe-alt-training-camp-pads/