LOCKED ON CHARGERS POSTCAST: Chargers win in Dallas 26-19 as Tony Jefferson creates 3 turnovers

[Music] you are locked on Chargers postcast part of locked on Sports Los Angeles on the locked on podcast Network your team every day well hello and welcome in to the locked on Chargers postcast on the lock on Sports LA YouTube channel the final preseason game of the year practice is over and it is now all about games that count and today was interesting for the Chargers final seconds here in Dallas as the Chargers are about to wrap up a 2619 win no starters on the field today so a whole bunch of guys trying to make the squad a lot of them already have some of them are in crucial positions and went out there today and played their backside off trying to make the team I am Pete Fox host of the locked on Chargers postcast on the lock on Sports LA YouTube channel covering Sports in La dating back to 2007 for ESPN and NBC sports radio covering the Chargers before that in the early 2000s uh when they were in San Diego so uh I'm fairly familiar with this team and I think uh we have a completely different team on our hands this year now that uh Jim Harbaugh is at the helm uh when we got into this game we knew that East stick would play the entire game and that for me was interesting because I am just not a believer in Easton stick I know it doesn't matter much when you have Justin Herbert as your quarterback and Easton stick is your backup I I guess you just want a good guy who does his homework who's ready to go when and if it is necessary and the good Lord willing it never is NE necessary so uh I I watch him and I go he's not really good he's very very inaccurate he runs the ball well he's pretty versatile and I guess that's a good feature to have as a backup quarterback a guy that can come in do simple things like hand the ball off toss the ball to Darius Davis and watch him run for 70 yards uh run the ball himself throw slant patterns and out routes and he did that pretty well he he threw the ball in the air today a few times uh two touchdowns the pass to foko was very nice on a go route it was a touch pass right in the pocket really nice to see so he's capable of it but he's just not efficient I mean he's just sloppy as hell ball is all over the place and really really inaccurate 12 of 29 today for 1887 yards but all that being said uh I am burying the lead the lead of this game is the veteran on defense Tony Jefferson two interceptions on a humble recovery he played his butt off today as well Tony Jefferson not that there was a question mark as to whether he was going to make the team but uh this feels like a very very nice addition out of retirement to the Chargers defense without a doubt uh both interceptions were nice the second one and the third right about the 650 Mark In The End Zone stopped the Cowboys as they were driving down the field uh so he was just all over the place and leading the team in tackles as well uh finished the day with 14 tackles 11 solo tackles one sack and a uh tfl broke up a few passes he was just all over the place uh right on his tail though Jeremiah Jean Baptist who is a guy that has a big question mark hanging over his head as to whether or not he's gonna make this team so there's just a lot of question marks out there day out there today and we'll we'll talk about as as many of them as we can and you guys can sit there and tell me how wrong I am because I know you know everything and I'm an idiot and know nothing so uh feel free to jump in the chat and share your thoughts uh and you can also like and follow and do all of that stuff because we'll be here after every game all season long that's what we do on the Chargers postcast of course Daniel will be doing the lock on Chargers daily podcast uh as he has been doing for years and uh he'll do that Monday through Friday uh and I'll do the post game right after the game and give you instant reaction uh that's what the postcast is all about again 2619 the final Chargers win this one uh their first touchdowns of the postseason I also need to tell you this real quick that the lockdown Chargers postcast is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get three weeks of a free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV to do this visit fanduel.com locked on to get started that's fanduel.com locked on we'll help you get started with that free trial of the NFL Sunday Ticket which is very cool if you've never had it Sunday Ticket Sunday Ticket uh Easton stick definitely not the Sunday Ticket he is the Sunday backup uh 12 of 29 187 yards that's semi foko for a touchdown and one interception just ultimately wasn't impressed with him at all and I said this last week I'll say it again charger fans better say your prayers that Justin Herbert doesn't get hurt and I realize that most of the time that's what you say about your starting quarterback you don't ever want your starting quarterback to get hurt because nine out of 10 of them when it comes to backups are not going to feel the shoes they're not going to get the job done I look across the aisle though I look on the other side of the field on the other sideline and I see Trey Lance I thought Trey Lance had a very very good game he was very effective running the ball and throwing the ball feels to me like a really nice piece to have as your backup quarterback he got a little experience was on the team last year didn't play a down just sat there as a healthy scratch every week so he's got two years under his belt in San Francisco 33 of 49 today 323 yards although that being said he did throw five interceptions so let's not forget that key piece to his uh afternoon there in Dallas he did run the ball 11 times for 90 yards I thought that was a very effective part of his game as well five interceptions really I I missed that I know Tony Jefferson had two of them uh and uh traymon Morris Brash had one in the fourth I I don't know when the other two happened but five interceptions holy cow uh that is off and I know it doesn't matter because it's preseason but uh five interceptions not what you're looking for ultimately uh what you are looking for is uh days like semi foko didn't do a whole lot two receptions 85 yards and a touchdown this is a guy that I've liked since day one I really feel like this guy should be on the team there's still a question mark as to whether or not he is going to make the Chargers roster by all accounts he's in I think the touchdown today because one play in preseason can do it and I think a nice touchdown reception like that can get you on the team if you're on the bubble I don't know if he's on the bubble because as I was watching the game listening to the broadcast doing some research on the internet I saw and heard a lot of talk from Harbaugh about semi foko making quotes positively about him for example he was the best receiver at practice all week also he belonged so I don't know that he is a question mark after today's performance I'd love to see him on the team I think he's going to be very effective to go along with Josh Palmer who by all accounts is the one Quinton Johnson will be the two lad makoni is the three that guy's on the team he played one series last week and that's all we saw from him he caught one ball on an out route for a first down and that was it uh so he's on the team though DJ CH will make the team Darius Davis will make the team he had a beautiful play today 70 yard touchdown first play of the offensive first offensive series for the Chargers it was a little toss pitch reverse which we know that e stick can handle and he blazed down the sideline made a hard right turn and turned on the afterburners 58 165 with speed uh not big enough to be an everyday guy small hands not Tough Enough not enough meat on the bones I mean he could be tough enough he just doesn't have the size to be out there to take the beating down after down after down he's a gadget guy he is a kick returning guy he's a guy that's going to be on the team for sure uh and that's exciting for the Chargers uh he ran the ball today uh I'm sorry he caught how many balls did he catch I guess he didn't catch any balls he made that play and that was pretty much all we saw from him again wasn't really a big question mark as to whether or not he was going to make the team some of the other guys today that performed I thought well enough to get a roster spot we'll talk about after the break both on the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball I feel like the receiving core is pretty shed up at this point but there is another question mark there as well so we'll get to more of these question marks running back wide receiver linebacker there's still a lot hanging out there uh thanks for joining me here it's the lock on Chargers postcast on the locked on Sports LA YouTube channel the place to hang out when every game is done you can also listen on the locked on Chargers podcast feed all right today's episode of the lock on Chargers postcast is brought to you by better help if you're feeling compelled to come up with uh reasons to make yourself better change yourself improve yourself what are some of the things that you need to work on well I'll tell you a really good awesome way to improve yourself is with therapy therapy help you find your strengths that you can build on and become better at and not have to go through all these crazy radical changes you could can just find the stuff that's working for you and then build on that and better help helps you do that I've done therapy a few times over the years and I've always found it to be helpful from the standpoint that it always gave me tools to deal with situations that I personally found frustrating or challenging so if you're thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it's entirely online designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule and having do done both in person and online they're very very similar in nature having chat with a person live in front of you doesn't feel like you're on a phone it feels like you're sitting there in the same room with them you can have you have eye contact and you can uh really gain uh you know grow and gain things from that just like you would in person sitting there talking to a person and maybe even being in person uh with a therapist is challenging for you so this might be a nice little buffer and without a doubt it's definitely uh a viable option for you so celebrate the progress that you have already made in your life visit betterhelp.com Lockton NFL today and you'll get 10% off your first month that's betterhelp hp.com locked on NFL all right uh Chargers posted 26 19 win over the Cowboys in Dallas which is interesting uh because the Cowboys had the ball the entire game the Chargers didn't hardly have the ball at all Cowboys Cowboys doubled them up on time of possession right around 3618 when it was all said and done but the Chargers I I you know I feel like their defense is going to be a key factor in their success this season they really seem to have and again no starters on the field today but the mentality is the mentality and I really feel like they have a Bend don't break sort of attitude you know the the Cowboys were pushing the ball down the field they ran it down their throat today how many yards did they post up when it was all said and done rushing the ball 246 yards on 41 carries versus 138 on 18 carries for the Chargers which included that one Rush from Darius Davis for 70 yards but Tre Lance had 90 Duce vaugh 53 Roy Freeman 35 carried the ball eight times Malik Davis 28 yards Snoop Conor 22 yards n Nathaniel Pete 14 and Ryan floro just four but they were running it down the Chargers throat and I I I didn't like that at all I feel like the Chargers are going to have to be better against the run it's been a problem for them for them in the past and I know that they have addressed it but all that being said when they got down into the Red Zone the Chargers stopped them forced field goals they did it early in the game uh they were making aggressive plays big tackles so when they got down to where it mattered the Chargers bowed their neck a little bit they did it uh first week of preseason uh goal line stand they did it last week as well against the Rams so they clearly have that mentality and that's a good mentality to have on defense as far as some of the guys with the big question marks hanging over their head let's look at the running game for the Chargers as far as the guys that are question marks to make the team it really feels like there's potentially one spot left and the guys competing for that spot at this point are Jared Patterson Elijah doson and Isaiah Spiller along with um where's that other guy that didn't play this week I was sorry to see that I know I wrote it down Vidal okay Vidal is another guy that had a good game last week so I'm like well why isn't he playing this week is that a is that a positive thing like oh we've already decided he's going to be on the team or in spite of the good week we don't think he's going to be on the team so I was reading around and various opinions are out there but the majority of those opinions were that Vidal is probably not going to make the 53 man roster and we'll probably end up on the practice squad so where does that leave you trying to find one maybe maybe two guys out of these three Patterson doson and Spiller again again some of the opinions I was reading Jared Patterson is the guy now we've heard from the Chargers offensive mentality Jim Harbaugh on down that they want to Pound The Rock they want to get out there and pound the ball run the ball down your throat kind of the way Dallas did against them today so you're gonna need depth right JK Dobbins coming off an injury is it Jared Patterson to me it feels like Patterson is in he's the guy that will be able to although he's not a big guy 58 you know 200 in that neighborhood uh he feels like a big enough guy to be there as rb3 another story I read today was an opinion about Isaiah Spiller that he has a real good probability of being on the roster as well three carries one yard today I made the comment week one that I thought he looked okay and people jumped all over me how dare you say he looked okay he's terrible uh I still think he's okay I don't know I feel like he's got a real possibility I thought doson looked pretty good today uh they're going to have to make a tough decision I don't think they're going to keep all three of those guys datson four carries for 23 yards today Patterson as I said probably secured a roster spot with his performance today six carries 27 yards doson don't know I thought he looked pretty good forgive me for thinking he looked pretty good if you don't like that opinion 59 202 got a lot of these guys under 510 that's kind of crazy when you want to be a running team that is going to pound the ball Isaiah Spiller 61215 so really big question mark in the running back Department who will be in that room it's anybody's guess feel free to share your thoughts on what you saw today um do we think that it's one of those guys or two of those guys it's definitely not going to three in my opinion um as far as defense there's uh fair amount of question marks there in the linebacker this guy traymon Morris Brash who had the interception lot of talk about him he's fourth on the depth chart if you look at ESPN right now a lot of talk about people liking him hardworking guy all of that stuff making plays showing up you know making people notice him so he had a fantastic interception Beyond that I I you know I I I feel like sure he's got a real possibility I kind of Base it on what they were talking about like I did with foko lot of positive sentiments about him uh what do you have three tackles today two solo tackles uh one sack also one big play could be enough for that guy to make the team uh Jeremiah Jean Baptist nine tackles today two solos also a guy with a question mark he's not even on the chart if you look at that right at this point so there's a lot hanging around him as to whether or not he will make the team so just I I I I don't envy the coaches and the um player Personnel Department today tomorrow moving forward when they have to cut this team down uh because you know it's it's got to be very very very difficult Shane Lee another guy out of USC played a little bit at of Bama uh tackle in the first uh looked good very energetic six tackles in all two solos so that could be enough for him uh to make the the squad they have him listed on the dep chart as the left inside linebacker third stringer at this point so there's just a lot of question marks out there uh the linebacking core is a little bit thin obviously Denzel Perryman there at top the list and they're going to be relying on him uh you have to assume that with the performance he had today Tony Jefferson is going to get a lot of time uh in the defensive backfield I don't believe that he is a not listed as a linebacker uh they have him listed as a safety uh so but they like they like him and they feel like he can slide into other positions because of his versatility another thing that I liked about this this squad this team today their performance uh look there's still a lot of question marks hanging over the head of what we're going to get from this charger team because the preseason doesn't tell you a whole lot lot when you don't see any of the starters because Jim Harbaugh did not run any of them out there uh the number one draft pick Joe altz uh played I think one series week one and that was all we saw from him so there's just a lot of question marks uh around the team as to what they're gonna look how they're gonna look different from today to week one it's gonna be dramatic right I did feel like there was more of a real football mentality today like they were out playing to win this game and I think that's just natural as you get towards the end of the preseason with the regular season right around the corner uh but yeah the mentality of pounding the rock we're going to see more of that uh and you know with none of the starting wide receivers in there and the top draft picks the guys that there are question marks around uh we didn't see a lot of them either rice played today I think he had one catch he had one almost spectacular catch yeah one catch 11 yards he had one that was almost a highlight reel but he came down out of bounds and dropped the ball uh so we could see that he's very athletic and you read about him they really like him obviously he's got a leg up because he's Jerry Rice's kid but I don't think it's only about that uh I feel like he's a really good football player but has he done enough at this point to make the squad I don't know we haven't seen him it's hard to tell Boko has seven catches 70 yards this postseason and or this preseason and a touchdown he's done more than enough Cornelius Johnson another one everybody likes everybody thinks should be on the team but have we seen Cornelius Johnson do anything yeah he was okay today three catches 34 yards so is that enough potentially and probably only one of those guys makes it I don't know that they're going to carry seven with Palmer Quinton Johnson lad makoni DJ CH and Darius Davis considered a receiver I don't know how that goes when you're a special teamer as well is he counted as a receiver is he not I think six was the number that I read They're going to keep but by all accounts Darius Davis is a wide receiver and will get touches there so it kind of boils down to foko or Cornelius Johnson to me I don't know I think they both have earned a spot so we'll see how it goes this is the crazy crazy part uh of the season but Cornelius Johnson looked good made some really nice grabs uh I I I thought foko in his limited time on the field looked good as well maybe they didn't play him as much because they've kind of already made up their mind about him kept Cornelius Johnson out there so there's just there's a lot of questions going on but back to the the perception of what this team is going to be like during the regular season with Jim Harbaugh as the coach very different than what we see now but I really like that they have gone down this path of having veterans like Tony Jefferson on the field to go with a whole bunch of youngsters there's a lot of hungry football players on this team and that goes for the veterans as well so the the the rebuilding of this team kind of from the ground up or from the top down coach general manager director of player Personnel horti all of that it's it's a very different Squad and that to me breeds confidence that they're going to be successful a lot of hungry guys a lot of young guys Jim harbon knows how to coach they have just retooled everything they're doing and let's be honest that's what the Chargers needed they needed a complete retooling and that's what they got uh as for the final segment we will get into a little bit more of the Chargers defensive performance on the day I'm Pete Fox this is the locked on Chargers postcast on the locked on Sports LA YouTube channel the place to hang out when every game is done you can also listen to the locked on do uh locked on Chargers po podast on the lock on Chargers podcast feed uh those guys do it Daniel and David do it Monday through Friday uh and they're there for you every day or as your first listen I of course am your second listen right after the game right here on the lockdown Sports LA YouTube channel you can also download it on the locked on Chargers podcast feed all right today's episode of the lock on Chargers podcast feed is brought to you by LinkedIn LinkedIn isn't just a job board LinkedIn helps you hire professionals you can't find anywhere else even those who aren't actively searching for a new job I mean let's be honest the people that are good at their job have 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getting a workout on defense with the time of possession nearly doubled by the Dallas Cowboys 2619 Tre Lance ran all over them fortunately for the Chargers he also threw five interceptions he ran for 90 yards uh 33 of 49 I feel like he's a uh solid piece as a backup quarterback H compare him to Easton stick and I would take Tre Lance any day of the week uh as far as the Chargers defense though Tony Jefferson was huge two interceptions one in the second right around the 1127 Mark and then another one in the third in the end zone with the 648 Mark uh and then he had a fumble recovery where he made a really nice play to poke the ball away and then recover the fumble 14 tackles in all 11 solo tackles he was just all over the field not that he was a question mark to make this team but if he was he earned a spot today Jeremiah Jean Baptist with nine tackles Robert Kennedy and JT Woods a guy that they really really like JT Woods was making Place very aggressive player seven tackles four solo tackles that was I'm sorry three solo tackles as we talked about the guy out of USC uh by way of Alabama Shane Lee had a nice game so Junior Collison returned today and they really like this guy uh he was making tackles five and all big play to force a field goal early in the game that it feel it felt like the Cowboys were just marching right down the field to a touchdown uh J Junior Collison made that really nice play and uh stopped the chart stopped the the Cowboys and then uh forced a field goal and they took a three nothing lead uh Dean Leonard made some nice tackles he's a guy that's been playing well all spring sorry preseason I think of preseason like Baseball spring training no it is summer training uh but Dean Leonard yeah looked good all preseason had a nice tackle there it was the first negative play of the game for the Chargers the Cowboys uh were moving the ball very effectively so uh I look at this charger defense and I feel like with the veteran leadership and the young guys they have they have a very uh Stout defensive line with a bunch of veterans that's nice to see and I feel like it's going to be a very very good defense for the Chargers now another big question mark is the offensive line again a bunch of veterans there they've added Joe Al there was that was their number one draft pick and they F feel like the most important thing and I have to agree is to keep um keep the quarterback standing up keep Herbert healthy is the motto for this offensive line and if they can do that I feel like this charger team is going to have a really really good season uh are they going to run down the Chiefs don't know it's hard to say but uh a wild card opportunity for them I feel is a real possibility and we can always hope that the Chiefs are just out of gas trying to threee that's going to be a tough tough uh Hill to climb for sure but they're a good team they just uh have to prove it to me again because they they they will run out of gas that's just what happens to teams that try to make three peats it's it's a really tough position to be in uh one of the other things today that I I still have a question mark about not with the charger specifically but just with the game is this new kickoff I don't know if this new kickoff is going to be good they want to have more run backs for the kickoff so they're they've changed up the kickoff and I feel like it's a nice try but ultimately if you don't want the guy in the end zone to touch the ball it's pretty easy to just kick it out out of the end zone we saw a fair amount of touchbacks today I feel like early in the preseason people were giving it a try the kickers weren't putting their full leg into it giving that guy an opportunity let's see how this all works let's feel it out but ultimately I think they don't have a problem starting at the 30 let's just kick it through the end zone and go on about our business so I don't know that it's going to perform the way that they hope it has hope it will uh I feel like yeah maybe a few more it'll increase the percentage a few percentage points maybe up to 30 or 40% whereas uh last year only 20% of kicks were returned which is the lowest number in the history of the NFL so this will probably help a little bit but I don't think it's going to help as much as they want we'll have to wait and see I just feel like the kickers can kick it out of the back of the end zone anytime they want and you have to move them back in order to not make it's so easy for them uh the other thing that's new this year is this vertical I'm sorry virtual measure on first downs that took way too long they did it one time it took forever we're standing around looking at each other when it's all said and done all we get from the referee is fourth and short and he holds his hands up in the air like where's the virtual measurement shouldn't we see something on the screen whether it's in the stadium or on the TV it took forever obviously they're getting used to it as well hopefully that improves I don't mind the virtual aspect of it I just don't think it should take this long right it's like we could have run the Chain Gang out there three or four times by the way I didn't know that the Chain Gang was screwing up first downs all the time they they they talk about this like oh we want it to be accurate we want it to be precise well yeah but is the Chain Gang that imprecise are they missing first downs a lot I didn't like it's pretty easy to look you just get down there it's chain link it's either past the chain link or it's not I don't understand why this is necessary I'm fine with virtual things as I've said many many times uh I can't wait for there to be robot umpires in baseball so we don't have to question bad umpiring when balls are called strikes and Strikes are called balls it shouldn't be happening so when there's the capability of getting it right every time because you have the technology we should use it so I'm okay with this they just got to speed up the process and then once it is complete and they've made the measure it virtually then we should see it I they showed it last week they didn't show it this week so obviously they were having some tech issues um and I'm sure they'll get it figured out but if it's this slow all the time uh count me as not a fan but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they'll get it worked out by the start of the preseason next or the start of the regular season next week uh so that's what's right around the corner for us the Chargers will take on the Raiders week one uh and then don't face them again until the final week of the season that's pretty crazy uh so the Chargers finish the preseason uh one and two with their their one win coming today in Dallas 2619 not that it matters so we'll just have to wait and see uh what happens with all these roster positions I know I'll be excited to see who makes the team and feel sorry for the guys that don't uh I'm Pete Fox this is the locked on Chargers postcast on the locked on Sports LA YouTube channel uh the place to hang out when every game is done we'll be here right after every game all season long breaking it down you can also listen wherever you find your podcasts on the locked on Chargers podcast feed have a good week we will talk next week when the regular season is underway thanks for joining me take care