After a physical game in Oakland, Chargers head coach Norv Turner was playing coy during his Tuesday press conference about a series of injuries that ripped through his squad.
(due to NFL rules we had to take down Turner’s audio after24 hours. Here is the transcript of what he said:)
“From an injury standpoint, you saw the guys who came out of the game. Nick Hardwick has a sprained ankle, and he’ll be evaluated every day. I would not expect him to practice tomorrow. LT has a sprained ankle, he’ll be evaluated every day. I would not expect him to practice tomorrow. Louis Vasquez has a sprained knee. I would not expect him to practice tomorrow but again, it’s a day-to-day deal. Jamal Williams, he’s had issues with his elbow, he sprained it a little bit. Same deal, I would not expect him to practice tomorrow. Luis Castillo, sprained elbow, and I’d put him in the same category.”
Turner did not elaborate further on any of the injuries, refused to say which lineman (Vasquez or Hardwick) was more likely to play on Sunday, and said only that he would be sure to suit up eight offensive lineman on Sunday against Baltimore. The injuries Monday night left the Chargers without any further backup linemen.
That said, Turner praised both Scott Mruczkowski and Brandon Dombrowski for stepping up their pass protection efforts in the fourth quarter, when the Chargers effectively moved the ball, completing 12 of 14 passes. Overall, Norv was impressed with how his team handled adversity and emerged with their 12th straight victory over the Raiders:
“You know, I’m proud of the way our guys stayed in that game with the adversity we had. Jamal Williams coming out, LT coming out, and obviously the offensive line. Brandon Dombrowski plays the fourth quarter at a position where he’s never taken a snap before. Obviously the things we worked on so hard in training camp, two minute (offense), finishing games…Philip Rivers, 12 of 14 in the 4th quarter, leading two drives. We had a lot of guys contribute. To go into Oakland on Monday night, in that kind of environment, and come out with a win, is exciting to me, and I’m proud of what our guys did. That being said, we’re like every team in this league, we need to get better. And there are some areas where we need to get better fast. And we’ll do that.”
Turner admitted that his team’s run defense was not where it needed to be early in the game against the Raiders, but also praised the Oakland running back tandem of Darren McFadden and Michael Bush as “two very talented backs” and ”a load”. He thought the team overall handled adversity and made fewer mistakes on the field than they had at the start of previous seasons.
Two things stood out to Turner from the finish of Monday’s game: the professionalism of his reserve offensive linemen stepping up after third quarter struggles, and how his team is managing two-minute offense situations.
“Two minute offense is what swung many games around the NFL this weekend and it swung our game. We work on many of those situations at least twice a week in practice. Those third-down catches you saw by Naanee and Sproles, those are catches they have made in practice many times before.”
Notes: The Chargers will return to practice tomorrow afternoon, with a very short turnaround before Sunday’s home opener against Baltimore. Chargers’ CEO Jim Steeg told the media that, 48 hours before the blackout deadline, there are 2,500 tickets still remaining, including “a significant number” in the $54 family seating section.
