Location: San Diego, CA | Stadium: Qualcomm Stadium (70,000) | Owner: Alex Spanos | President/CEO: Dean A. Spanos | GM: A.J. Smith Coach: Norv Turner | League Championships: 1
It was somewhat of a surprise to see Philip Rivers dropping back, hitting receivers and looking pretty good in the recent minicamp.
Never mind he is rebounding from an operation which repaired a torn ACL in his right knee.
Then again, the gutsy Rivers played in the AFC title game with a shredded ACL, so maybe it isn't a shock to see him rebound so quickly.
"It feels pretty good," Rivers said. "It's been a good couple months of rehab, and to this point, we've made a lot of progress."
Rivers, though, stayed clear of defenders and was restricted to going against defense which didn't feature pass-rushers.
The sight of him zeroing in on targets in May and jogging without a limp was an encouraging sign for a team eager to make another Super Bowl run.
"This is a hungry group," coach Norv Turner said. "This is a group that has had a lot of success. And it is growing and we can continue to improve and I think we are improved in a couple of areas."
The pain of finishing four quarters shy of the franchise's second Super Bowl remains on the edges. The Chargers fell short last year in New England, but realize, too, that they were compromised by injuries to LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates and Rivers.
"I don't know if you say extra motivation -- we won't be more hungry this year because of how it ended," Rivers said "All last year did was we truly got a taste of what it takes to go win a championship. By falling a couple plays short of getting that championship and getting to go to the Super Bowl.
"I think we made great strides. But that is not something we want to be remembered by, that we won a few playoff games and got beat in the AFC Championship Game."
With each day, that memory gives way to what lies ahead. But for the present, spotting Rivers flinging passes and Tomlinson making cuts at Chargers Park is a welcoming sight.
"I want to do what's right obviously," Rivers said. "They know I want to go, go, go, whenever I can.
"But I've been smart. I really have. I'm not going to do anything silly that can cause a setback for me and potentially hurt the team."
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I hope that your stay at the top was fun. Let me be the first to say that it is about time for it to be over. With Norv at the helm, you had to know that it wasn't going to last for long. I can't wait for your roid boys try and tackle a QB that is bigger than they are. That should be entertaining. I guess we will see how another year removed from the juice doe
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I could feel that false sense of hope you all displayed last year in your playoff run. I hate to tell you, but the wheels are going to fall off this year. LT has already talked of retirement because he can't stomach rehab. Your Roided out LB is without his Roids. And, your big mouthed QB will be hard pressed to come back from his knee
The Patriots never saw the tapes, Walsh admitted that he had them the whole time. Walsh also said that Mr. Belichek also told him not to get caught (when he would record teams). That probably means you were doing something thats not permitted by the NFL. Buts thats ok, because
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4 Braylon Edwards: For years Edwards struggled, but only because he didn’t have a quarterback to throw the ball to him. Now that he has a good player in Anderson tossing balls in his direction, Edwards should rise on your draft boa
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The funniest part of all this is that they say the most scandelous part of the tapes is a segment of the Chargers Girls dancing for a few minutes.... Guess even the Pats know that SoCal girls are the best in the country....
