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We’re just two weeks into the Mike McCoy era, but fans of the San Diego Chargers are already starting to worry. The team’s star quarterback doesn’t appear to be very comfortable in the new offense, and both the special teams and defense looked poor in a preseason loss to the Chicago Bears on Thursday night.
Is there any real reason why the Chargers fans should be panicking? Yes. The incredibly obvious dropoff in talent from the first team to the second team shows that the team doesn’t have the depth to endure the long football season, and the chances of them avoiding injuries to their starters is very small.
That said, every team that starts the season with a new head coach and/or a new general manager is going to go through growing pains. The players need to learn the new playbooks and the general manager needs to find ways to get guys to buy into the new schemes and philosophies while still dealing with the players from the old regime that are under contract. The 2013 Chargers have almost no chance of making the playoffs, but it’s sad to see that window of opportunity shrink before the regular season even begins.
You’re reading the Sports Report, our weekly compilation of news and information for the San Diego sports fan.
What Has and Hasn’t Changed for the Chargers
• There’s a new offense, which I took the pleasure of explaining in layman’s terms so that everyone would be as excited as I am about the spread passing attack coming to San Diego.
• Wide receiver Malcom Floyd’s legs are still scaring the hell out of everyone. The news on Floyd this week went from a probable torn ACL to a minor knee sprain in a matter of days following his collision at practice with cornerback Shareece Wright.
• The Chargers are sometimes so easy to dislike (see the case of team doctor David Chao) that some have actually started to side with Eli Manning, who refused to be a Charger in 2004.
MLB Finally Joins the 21st Century
• Earlier this week, there was a fairly historic addition to Major League Baseball that nearly went under the radar. Managers will now be issued “challenges,” just like in football, that they can use to initiate an instant replay review of a call on the field.
• San Diego Padres fans and local media are ready to give up on the talented-but-inconsistent Edinson Volquez. It’s hard to imagine him being a part of the rotation for the remainder of this season, much less the beginning of next season.
• Who should take Volquez’s place in the rotation? Well, Tyson Ross is making a good case to be a big part of the team’s 2014 rotation since being remade by Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley. It’s amazing to think of how much money Balsley must have saved the Padres over the years by taking mediocre pitchers and turning them into something special.
Stories You May Have Missed
• Here’s your annual reminder to not buy tickets to NFL preseason games.
• It may not count as a real sport, but Darren Young coming out as the first openly gay professional wrestler seems like a pretty big step for the industry.
• GIF of the Week: The most impressive thing about this hit Chicago Bears linebacker Jon Bostic laid on Chargers wide receiver Mike Willie is probably that Willie was able to see straight and walk afterward.
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I’m John Gennaro, contributor to Active Voice and managing editor of Bolts from the Blue. You can tweet me @john_gennaro or e-mail me directly at boltsfromtheblue@gmail.com.
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