Chargers offensive linemen Savion Washington, left, Mekhi Becton and center Bradley Bozeman (75) participate in drills in May.
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)
Looking for answers on the offensive line, Zion Johnson and returning starting center Bradley Bozeman alternated days at center and left guard during offseason sessions. When left tackle Rashawn Slater joined the team for minicamp, the potential starting offensive line looked significantly different than the one that got steamrolled in the playoffs.
While Bozeman and Johnson continue to jockey at center and left guard, key free-agent signing Mekhi Becton has solidified the right guard position. The 6-foot-7 Super Bowl champion and 6-foot-8 tackle Joe Alt have the potential to be a dominant right-side duo.
Coaches mentioned Jamaree Salyer as someone who could still battle for a major role on the inside with Bozeman and Johnson, along with free-agent addition Andre James, who was a starting center for three seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders. After starting last season as the team’s No. 1 right guard, Trey Pipkins III’s role remains unclear.
Considering both a player’s contribution at an individual position and how well a specific combination works together, Harbaugh said he hopes to set the starting lineup around eight to 10 days into training camp.
“It’s always who’s playing the best [and] best combination,” Harbaugh said. “How do we know that? They play the best. It’s really that simple.”
No one in the Chargers’ locker room felt as bad as Justin Herbert. At least that’s what the quarterback said after a career-high four interceptions in January cost the Chargers an opportunity for their first playoff win since 2018.
But the disappointment that rendered Herbert motionless on the sideline in Houston had faded in his memory, he said. Offseasons tend to have that rejuvenating effect.
“If I spend any more time worrying or focusing on a loss like that, I would be doing a disservice to my teammates,” Herbert said Wednesday on the second day of Chargers minicamp. “Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted it to, like I said at the end of the year, but you gotta move on.”
Despite the crushing wild-card loss that prolonged the Chargers’ seven-year playoff win drought, Herbert maintained that his offseason has been business as usual.
Meeting with local reporters for the first time in five months, Herbert recited the typical offseason lines with a stone-faced expression. His new teammates are picking up the offense quickly. He wants to continue mastering the scheme in his second season under the coaching staff.
Herbert instead makes stronger statements on the practice field and in the weight room, where his determined nature has earned him a spot in coach Jim Harbaugh’s “Elite Nine” club of the team’s hardest workers.
“I know it motivates me every day to get up out of bed, like I gotta rise up to his level,” Harbaugh said. “He’s doing anything and everything he can possibly do. Now it’s up to the rest of us.”
During the offseason, the Chargers focused on adding weapons around Herbert to elevate a sputtering offense that ranked 20th in the NFL in yards per game.
Even without pads, the athleticism and instincts of running back Najee Harris and rookie Omarion Hampton have impressed Herbert. Rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden is showing his receiving capabilities as Syracuse’s all-time leader for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end when he had the most catches of any player during team drills Wednesday. Gadsden, a converted wide receiver, will team with free-agent acquisition Tyler Conklin, who has had at least 50 catches in each of the last four seasons, to boost the tight end position.
The biggest offseason move was the addition of a familiar name. Mike Williams, after one year away from the franchise that drafted him in 2017, returned on a one-year contract to reunite with Herbert. The 6-foot-4 receiver, who has been working primarily with trainers during minicamp practices, “changes the way you play football when he’s on your team,” Herbert said.
“50-50 balls are not quite 50-50 as we’ve seen with Mike,” the quarterback added.
The receivers could use the boost. Ladd McConkey was the group’s only consistent force last year. The former second-round pick dominated against Houston with an NFL rookie playoff-record 197 yards receiving, nine catches and one touchdown. The rest of his teammates combined for five receptions and 45 yards. Still without a playoff win in two appearances entering his sixth NFL season, Herbert completed a career-low 43.7% of his passes and was sacked four times.
Chargers rookie running back Omarion Hampton warms up with teammates during a workout last week.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Getting Williams and rookie receivers Tre’ Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who were selected in the second and fifth rounds, respectively, on the field could open up a more aggressive deep passing game, offensive coordinator Greg Roman said.
The stacked room also could put more pressure on Quentin Johnston to live up to the billing of a former first-round pick. The receiver entering his third year is “owning the system now,” said Roman, who predicted another major step for Johnston this season.
The former Texas Christian star shook off a disappointing rookie season with 711 yards receiving and eight touchdowns on 55 catches last year. He torched the Las Vegas Raiders in a playoff seed-clinching Week 18 win for 13 receptions and 186 yards receiving. Even Johnston estimated that it was the best game he’d ever had at any level of football.
Yet he followed with a major disappointment in the biggest moment with no catches on five targets in the wild-card loss. Johnston went without a catch in two games last season, both coming in marquee matchups. He was also shut out against the Baltimore Ravens in a “Monday Night Football” showcase in which he also dropped a crucial third-down pass. To pile on, fellow receiver Zay Flowers, who the Ravens picked one spot behind Johnston in the 2022 draft, led Baltimore with 62 yards receiving on five catches.
Learning a second offense in as many years in the NFL, Johnston had to play “a game of catchup last season,” Roman said. But with consistent practices in organized team activities and minicamp, the coach said Johnston is “starting to come out of the other end of the tunnel.”
“Justin, he’s throwing to him a lot,” Roman said, “and Q’s answering the call.”
He wasn’t under the watchful eye of Chargers executive director of player performance Ben Herbert this offseason. He didn’t train in the team’s El Segundo practice facility. But it doesn’t mean Rashawn Slater wasn’t working this offseason.
Making his first offseason appearance at the Chargers’ facility this week as the team started mandatory minicamp, Slater immediately passed the team’s conditioning test. In fact, Jim Harbaugh said, Slater reported the test was too easy.
“Too easy,” the coach said, “because he trains.”
Slater’s return highlighted the Chargers’ perfect attendance on the first day of three-day minicamp Tuesday. The star left tackle had missed all of voluntary organized team activities while in discussions for a contract extension.
Since the Chargers took him 13th overall in 2021, Slater has earned two Pro Bowl appearances and was named second-team All-Pro in 2021. After the team picked up his fifth-year option last season, Slater reestablished himself as one of the top tackles in the league with the second-best overall grade and third-best pass blocking grade among his position, according to Pro Football Focus. In the final year of his contract, he is due to make about $19 million in 2025, which ranks sixth-most among left tackles, according to overthecap.com.
“Speaking on behalf of everyone in the organization, fully support Rashawn and what he’s trying to accomplish for himself and his family,” said Harbaugh, who added he chooses not to worry about discussions as they continue between general manager Joe Hortiz and Slater’s representatives. “We’re all in support.”
Slater has maintained his standing in the organization because of his respected work ethic that earned him the distinction of being a team captain last season. Harbaugh counts Slater as part of an exclusive club made up of the team’s nine hardest workers. The coach’s so-called “Elite Nine” also includes Derwin James Jr., Khalil Mack, Joe Alt, Ladd McConkey, Daiyan Henley, Tuli Tuipulotu, Zion Johnson and Justin Herbert.
Now in his second year at the helm, Harbaugh expects confidence and polish during training camp from experienced players. The coach has already found a standard bearer in Herbert, who is still searching for his first NFL playoff win after having four passes intercepted in last year’s wild-card loss to Houston,
“I wouldn’t change a thing about Justin Herbert,” Harbaugh said. “I think the important thing is everyone else, especially the guys he’s counting on, on the offensive side of the ball, just look at his example, how he goes about his business, how he trains and they attempt to get to that level.”
The quarterback’s training was so relentless that he missed his planned media availability Tuesday. He was lifting instead.
J.K. Dobbins signs with Denver Broncos
Former Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins signed a reported one-year, $5.25-million deal with the Denver Broncos on Tuesday after the Chargers placed a rarely used unrestricted free-agent tender on the 25-year-old. The Chargers would have had Dobbins’ exclusive negotiating rights if he hadn’t signed with another team by July 23.
Dobbins is coming off a career-high 905 yards rushing last season when he finished as the runner-up for the NFL’s comeback player of the year in his first full season since 2020. But his return to the Chargers has been in question since the team picked running back Omarion Hampton 22nd overall in April’s draft.
Hampton, who rushed for 1,660 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior at North Carolina, has joined with free-agent addition Najee Harris to form an impressive one-two backfield punch.
“I like Omarion, how he’s hitting the hole,” James Jr., said when asked which rookies are standing out to him. “Can’t really tell right now, but I like Omarion a lot.”
Hampton leads a rookie class that Harbaugh lauded as being “as good of a rookie class as I’ve ever been around in terms of being about their business.”
“Being where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there,” Harbaugh said. “We have to kick them out of the building.”
But even the staff’s best attempts sometimes aren’t enough. Harbaugh said he often notices the rookies looking for safe harbor in other rooms.
Etc.
The Chargers brought in receiver Willie Snead IV for a veteran tryout. The 32-year-old last played in an NFL game in 2023, appearing in four games for the San Francisco 49ers, catching two passes for 14 yards.
Puka Nacua is using organized team activities to hone his craft and prepare for his third NFL season.
But the Rams’ star receiver also recently took time to help others prepare to avoid potential health challenges.
Nacua last week returned from a trip to Samoa, where he and his mother joined medical professionals from Utah Valley University to provide testing, clinics and education about diabetes.
Nacua said his father, who died when Nacua was a youngster, experienced complications from the disease.
So the opportunity to travel with his mother to his maternal grandmother’s village was “kind of a full-circle moment” for his family, Nacua said Tuesday.
“To be able to go and improve the situation in the homeland was something sweet,” Nacua said after the team went through a workout.
Nacua, who missed the Rams’ first on-field workout because of the trip, appeared to be at full strength Tuesday, with no evidence of the knee injury he fought through last season.
Nacua is part of a remade Rams receiver corps that is expected to elevate the offense for a team regarded as a Super Bowl contender.
The Rams released veteran Cooper Kupp, who signed with the Seattle Seahawks, and replaced him with three-time All-Pro Davante Adams. They also re-signed Tutu Atwell to a one-year, $10-million contract. Second-year pro Jordan Whittington and rookie Konata Mumpfield also are competing for roles.
“It definitely is a little bit different,” Nacua said of Kupp’s absence from the receivers’ meeting room. “The spot he used to sit in, I think, it’s definitely occupied by somebody now, so everybody’s getting used to it.”
But Nacua said Adams, who was absent Tuesday, has come in and provided leadership.
“Somebody who’s played at a super high level his whole career — and the knowledge he has is something different from what we’re used to, having Coop in the system a long time,” Nacua said. “It’s been great to have him around and I feel like I’m learning something new every day.”
Nacua, 24, proved a quick study after the Rams selected him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft out of Brigham Young.
With Kupp sidelined at the start of the season because of injury, Nacua became quarterback Matthew Stafford’s primary target. Nacua enjoyed a record-setting season, catching 105 passes for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns. He was a finalist for the NFL offensive rookie of the year.
During training camp before last season, Nacua suffered a knee injury during a joint workout with the Chargers. He then aggravated the issue in the opener against the Detroit Lions, and was sidelined for five games. He still caught 79 passes for 990 yards and three touchdowns for a Rams team that finished with a 10-7 record and advanced to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs before losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said Nacua was “continuing to work on his craft,” during organized team activities.
“He’s naturally just a leader,” LaFleur said. “Just the way he goes about it.”
In a few weeks, Nacua will play a prominent role for the Rams when they travel to Maui for a minicamp that will conclude voluntary offseason workouts. Nacua, who also is of Hawaiian descent, is expected to be warmly embraced by the locals during some activities that will be open to the public.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I can’t wait for everybody to come out there and have some shaved ice. I’m sure they’ll be waiting for us.”
Etc.
The Rams have four coaches working with them during organized team activities as part of the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching fellowship program. The coaches are Taylor Embree (tight ends), Chris Marve (defensive backs), Va’a Niumatalolo (outside linebackers) and Greg Stewart (offensive line).
During the offseason, the team solidified its offense by re-signing left tackle Alaric Jackson and receiver Tutu Atwell, adding free-agent receiver Davante Adams and offensive lineman Coleman Shelton and adjusting the contract of quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Williams, who rushed for more than 1,100 yards in each of the last two seasons, is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is eligible for an extension.
In April, the Rams and Williams’ agent exchanged proposed contract terms. But with organized team activities scheduled to begin next week, a deal has not been done.
Still, Williams said he was “feeling good” about the situation.
“I know with time it’s going to happen,” Williams said last week in Pasadena, where he helped distribute new shoes to kids affected by the Eaton Fire.
And if Williams and the Rams do not reach a deal before the season?
“I would love for it to get done so I can take care of my family and the loved ones that helped me get here,” he said. “I’ve always got trust in God. Whether it happens now or I play out the season, I know it’s going to happen eventually.
“And so, time will tell. I just know I’ve got to do what I need to do each and every single day to make sure that it does happen in my favor.”
Rams running back Kyren Williams, second from right, helped distribute new shoes to kids affected by Eaton fire last week in a joint effort between the Seattle Seahawks and Rams.
(Gary Klein / Los Angeles Times)
Williams, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick from Notre Dame, was slowed by injuries much of his rookie season. But in 12 games in 2023, he rushed for 1,144 yards, scored 15 touchdowns and was voted to the Pro Bowl. In 16 games last season, he rushed for 1,299 yards and scored 16 touchdowns and helped the Rams advance to the NFC divisional round.
Williams, 24, leads a Rams running back corps that includes second-year pro Blake Corum, Ronnie Rivers, Cody Schrader and rookie Jarquez Hunter, a fourth-round draft pick from Auburn.
Williams is scheduled to earn about $5.4 million this season, according to Overthecap.com. The Rams have not given a running back a top-level extension since they awarded Todd Gurley a then-record deal before the 2018 season.
General manager Les Snead has said that Rams would “definitely like to engineer a long-term partnership,” with Williams. Coach Sean McVay said in April that “bridging that gap” financially was the challenge.
“We’ll see how far that we have to go with that but he is a very important part of what we want to be moving forward,” McVay said, adding, “He knows how much I love him, and so we’ll see if we can get something done.”
In the meantime, Williams is preparing for the season — and continuing to contribute off the field with actions consistent with those that made him the Rams’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award last season.
Williams directed his $25,000 from the NFL Foundation to the LAFD Foundation to help with fire relief efforts, said Molly Higgins, the Rams’ executive vice president of community impact and engagement.
“He’s been very vocal in saying, ‘However I can help with the fire-impacted families, let me know,’” Higgins said.
So when the Seattle Seahawks reached out to the Rams offering to combine forces to distribute sneakers to needy kids affected by the fires, Williams signed on to assist team mascots and several former Seahawks players at the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena.
“I couldn’t imagine what these young kids and their families went through when they lost their houses and things due to the fire so just being able to be here — this is a blessing,” Williams said.
As his contract situation plays out, the work on and off the field will continue, Williams said.
“My only purpose is to continue to get better,” he said, “and finding joy in each and every single day and finding something to get better at.”
