EL SEGUNDO — Now that Chargers’ first preseason game is days away rather than weeks or months, the coaching staff’s evaluation process draws to a finer point. Training camp battles begin to sort themselves out, with a sense of clarity and a sense or urgency emerging with each passing practice.
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The Chargers have three more practices before facing the Texans in Houston on Thursday. It will be a chance for some of the long shots among the 90-plus players in camp to prove they belong on an NFL roster, although it might not be with the Chargers but with another team down the road.
“It’s different for different guys,” coach Jim Harbaugh said Saturday of the evaluation process. “Some guys rise, you know, the cream really rises to the top,” Harbaugh said. “Some guys will melt like butter in the toaster. Those are the two different spectrums of it. So, I’m really excited for them to have that opportunity.”
With that in mind, and with many position battles settled before the players reported for the first day of practice July 29, Harbaugh will ask roughly 15 veteran starters to warm up with their teammates before the game against the Texans. They won’t play in the game, though.
“About 27 (veteran starters) or so will play in the first preseason game, then in the second preseason game, we’d like to see the starters, the veterans, play a series, and the third game, we’d like to see a multi-series,” Harbaugh said. “Hopefully, we get some clarity and we can all prepare as a group (for the start of the regular season).”
The Chargers’ final two preseason games are Aug. 20 against the San Francisco 49ers and Aug. 27 against the Rams, both at SoFi Stadium. Rosters must be cut to 53 players by the NFL’s deadline Aug. 30, and a practice squad can be established Aug. 31. The Chargers’ season-opening game is Sept. 13 at home against the Arizona Cardinals.
So, what does Harbaugh hope to see in the coming days and during the preseason games?
“The guys who play in the games, we know exactly what their capabilities are in the games, so a week of practice is more important,” he said. “When we see a talented player and we want to put him out there and see how he does in 11-on-11, in game situations, for that player the game is more important.”
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Rookie wide receiver Brenan Thompson, the Chargers’ fourth-round draft pick in April, had plenty of NFL coaches, general managers, scouts and other team officials doing double-takes when he blazed to a 4.26-second clocking in the 40-yard dash at the draft combine in Indianapolis last winter.
It was believed to be the third-fastest 40 time by a receiver in combine history.
It didn’t happen by accident.
Thompson was the Texas 3-A state champion at Spearman High School in the 100 and 200 meters before he went on to become a standout wide receiver at the University of Texas in 2022, then at Oklahoma before making his mark at Mississippi State last season.
“I actually hated track while I was a freshman in high school,” Thompson said, laughing at the memory of hunkering down in the blocks and racing his way toward the finish line. “Then I started getting some medals and I was, like, ‘I can really do this.’ But, to be fair, I really hate running.”
Thompson flashed his speed and his skills, too, by making a diving catch of a pass from quarterback Justin Herbert on a sideline route, one of the highlights of Saturday’s practice. Herbert slapped hands with Thompson as he jogged back to the huddle after the catch.
EXTRA POINTS
Left tackle Rashawn Slater’s absence for a good portion of practice Tuesday at the University of San Diego remained a mystery Saturday, with Harbaugh declining to provide an explanation. Slater was one of a handful of players to get a planned rest day Saturday. …
Trey Pipkins III filled in for Slater at left tackle during 11-on-11 team drills while Herbert was handling his share of the quarterback repetitions. Rookie Jake Slaughter was the left guard and Tyler Biadasz was the center, flanked by Cole Strange at right guard and Joe Alt at right tackle.
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