The Chargers need to get their top pick into camp. Photo Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
SAN DIEGO — One of the most important seasons in San Diego Chargers history got off to somewhat of a shaky start.
When all the players reported for camp, there was one notable Charger missing: rookie Joey Bosa.
The team’s top pick out of Ohio State remains unsigned and out of sight for the Chargers, a team looking for a fast start leading up to its November ballot initiative to fund a new stadium.
“He definitely needs to be out here,” coach Mike McCoy said. “But we’re just going to keep working on it and eventually it will get done.”
It doesn’t appear the parties are that far apart. The biggest issue is when, not if, Bosa would receive his $17 million signing bonus.
Another 17, quarterback Philip Rivers, isn’t concerned about Bosa’s absence.
“It’s not like anyone (in the locker room) is upset with him,” said Rivers, a celebrated holdout in 2004 after being drafted by the New York Giants and traded to the Chargers. “I know what it’s like.”
Meanwhile, the Chargers would like to incorporate a running attack this year, to give their offense balance and to help extend the career of Rivers. Running back Melvin Gordon was supposed to lift the ground game last year, but a rocky rookie season prevented that.
Gordon is back from knee surgery and looks good. That goes for the way he is cutting to the holes and his mindset before getting the ball tucked in his midsection.
“I think he is a little more comfortable and that is important for a running back,” Rivers said. “It is for a quarterback, too, to see all the reads. But it looks like he has a lot more confidence.”
Gordon doesn’t like talking about last year’s troubles. Instead he’s looking forward to 2016 after an offseason that included working with Vikings’ star Adrian Peterson.
“He was a guy, as a kid, everyone looked up to as a running back,” Gordon said. “He was super cool; he didn’t big-time anybody.”
What Gordon learned was that when a back gets winded, he can’t back down.
“He told me when I get tired to not make a mistake mentally,” Gordon said. “When you get tired you have to push through it.”
The Chargers are trying to plow past a 4-12 stinker, their worst season since 2003.
“We don’t ever want to feel that again,” Rivers said. “That was a first time for me and for a lot of the guys in there. I look back at the games against the Packers, the Steelers and the Bears and say, ‘Golly, how did we lose those games. That was just a tough year to be a part of.'”
So, the Chargers are turning the page in what may be their last season in San Diego. If so, the Chargers are determined to leave a good memory.
“I’m excited, but we got a long way to go,” McCoy said.
He was talking about his team and not where it might play someday.
