EL SEGUNDO — Mike McDaniel said all the right things two games into his tenure as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator. He accepted responsibility for the team’s sputtering offense. He said it was important not to overreact to their 0-2 record. He said he wasn’t about to tear up the playbook, but adjustments will be made going forward.
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“My job is to take the tape and coach,” McDaniel said Thursday. “It’s super important in times like this that you don’t overcook something just because your expectations were different, that you assess the tape, good or bad, and people get better from it.
“I felt like we were more prepared to score more points than we have, and who cares what I was expecting? The tape is the tape. My job is to coach these guys and put them in good positions. I start the tape off when I meet with the players, making sure they know the things that I absolutely know that I can be better at.”
McDaniel said his bond with quarterback Justin Herbert has grown stronger after losses to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 and the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2, two games in which the Chargers were favored by oddsmakers to win by a touchdown or more going into the contests.
Herbert has completed 59.3% of his passes through the season’s first two games, down from his career average of 66.4%. He has averaged 200 passing yards per game, down from his career average of 260 yards per game. His passer rating of 71.6 is down from his career average of 95.9.
“It can be a lonely world as a starting quarterback that’s a franchise quarterback when you have successive losses,” McDaniel said. “It can be lonely as a play-caller and offensive coordinator. The only way to approach it is that you’re not alone. I think we both have a high regard in what we put into our craft.
“Ironically, I’ve never been a part of any successful team – the two Super Bowl teams, the other team championship games – (that wasn’t) made in adverse times. Naturally, I open the doors of communication aggressively being new in the system and having results that are underwhelming.
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“So, we’re doing the work, and everything is an opportunity.”
McDaniel also said the trick was to “overcommunicate” with Herbert and everyone else in the offensive unit. It’s important to “take advantage of the relationship” that has been forged since he took the job in January after he was fired after four seasons as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach.
What matters most is what comes next, which in this case for the Chargers is a road game Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. Week 3 has been all about putting what’s been learned into practice. The good stuff, anyway. But the bad stuff can include teachable moments, too.
Cleaning up their act is a priority for the Chargers, and there’s a great deal of cleaning to do. They were penalized seven times in Week 1 and eight times in Week 2. They fumbled six times in Week 2. They haven’t scored more than two touchdowns in a game since a Week 16 game last season against the Dallas Cowboys, losing five consecutive dating to last Dec. 21.
“There’s no magic formula,” McDaniel said. “It’s not like we’re going to use a wand and score 40. We have to put in the work and do better with our opportunities, and that’s what we’ve been busy doing, making sure from our particular vantage points, that we’re not only being better versions of ourselves but we’re bringing people along.”
CORNERBACK ROTATION
Donte Jackson, Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still will continue their three-man rotation at cornerback, Chargers defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary said. O’Leary said he believes Jackson, Hart and Still are “starter level for us,” and with the added bonus of keeping them each fresh.
“Giving them different opportunities to go make plays, keep them fresh, definitely, but really it’s, like, we’re going to play the guy that’s playing the best in that situation,” O’Leary said. “And we’re going to give guys the opportunity to make a statement and get in there and take the job.”
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So far, the Chargers consider the starting positions up for grabs.