Bolts Bounce Back
Quotes after 37-10 shellacking of the reeling Vikes
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH JIM HARBAUGH
On how it felt to get a win of that caliber:
“It felt great. The team really responded and we’re just going to get back to work after Sunday and they just set their minds to it that they weren’t going to be denied. I thought it showed up really in the two lines – the offensive line and the defensive line – really coming off the ball on defense and did a great job – our offensive line covered guys up, sustained it and finishing and giving [QB] Justin [Herbert] enough time, and I thought our playmakers did an incredible job too as they have been doing. Lot of credit to the [running] backs – Kimani Vidal, great job – J-Pat [RB Jaret Patterson] [and RB] Nyheim [Hines], and the young guys that keep stepping up. It’s really great for our team – [TE] Oronde Gadsden and [S] RJ Mickens and Kimani and others. Guys getting their opportunity, you know? They’re getting their opportunity and they’re capitalizing and making the most of it. I love that drive that our team has, so really happy, really pleased with the way the team responded, the way they played, and it was together when it needed to be. That was something we keep building on. It’s not perfect yet but keep chipping away at it, but really thought our team did a great job tonight.”
On the difference that T Joe Alt makes:
“[T] Joe [Alt] makes a huge difference. He’s a great player. I would say in his leadership, there’s a lot of player-led – I mean, your team, you talk about together, I talk a lot about being together and that really comes from our player leaders. All the captains, Joe, [QB] Justin [Herbert], K-Mack [OLB Khalil Mack] – K-Mack did a great job getting all of our minds right for this week. Joe Alt, his presence – [C] Bradley Bozeman – what he does [and LB] Daiyan Henley and DP, [LB] Denzel Perryman and [WR] Keenan [Allen] – [WR] Ladd McConkey, he’s a captain in my mind. So many great leaders on both sides of the ball – [P] J.K. Scott, I thought he had a great game, so did [K] Cameron Dicker and great to see that. They were fighting through there and [LS] Rick Lovato, I thought he got things – great performance down the stretch by him. Guys just responding, taking their opportunity and making the most of it, but very pleased with the physicality of the team tonight. Best on a short week.
On the momentum going into the mini-bye week:
“You’d love to take a break for goodness sake, but try to be good, try to get better, you know? You just can’t, but we do have – the guys will get the weekend off and I hope it’s a healthy, safe weekend. They’ve earned it, and [I] gave them an extra day too because they just really earned it. I think it’ll be good and beneficial for us, but I like the way we – you give it your all. That’s fundamental, number one, make sure you give it your very best every time you play, but also get better. That’s number two on the list. Our guys have been attacking it and doing it and striving for great Charger football. That’s what we’re striving for.”
On any updates on S Derwin James Jr.’s injury:
“No, I don’t think I do. It was an ankle [injury], yeah he’s got that.”
On any updates on G Mekhi Becton Sr. or CB Tarheeb Still’s injury:
“No, I don’t really have any updates.”
On the physicality in the trenches by T Joe Alt and OLB Khalil Mack:
“Yeah, a big part, but it was together. Our offensive line has done an incredible job and I would say that players, coaches, the way that’s been managed – first, it’s guys stepping up when they had their opportunity. It’s also guys doing anything and everything they can to get back to playing like [T] Joe [Alt], like [G/T] Trey Pipkins III – It’s [T] Bobby Hart stepping up, it’s [T] Foster Sarell, [G] Mekhi [Becton Sr.] doing anything and everything he can to be out there, [C] Brad [Bradley] Bozeman just there every day, there every play. T-E-P. I think we got a new one: There Every Play. The coaches as well, I think they’ve done a great job – [Offensive Line Coach] Mike Devlin and [Assistant Offensive Line Coach] Nick Hardwick and [Offensive Assistant] Kirk Campbell. It’s been getting eight healthy guys out there has been a challenge, but I think we’re going to be better for it, I know that because we are going to have guys that are battle-tested. When we get healthier, that we’re going to have [guys] very battle-tested in there. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, that’s another one, maybe? Proud of the way the guys – just respect for what they’re doing.”
On the early interception that was overturned:
“I didn’t have a view of it from the field until I saw the replay.
On the interception being a gut-punch:
“Yeah, but it wasn’t [laughter]. It’s just another thing about [QB] Justin Herbert that – I don’t know how he does it. It’s nothing but respect to be able to actually throw an interception and then come back the next drive – that’s the great ones that can do that. The great, great ones just measure what they do after something goes bad, after there’s an interception. That’s the worst thing that can really happen to you as a quarterback and then chart what they do with the next drive. That near interception, that shakes a lot of guys, not Justin Herbert, not the great ones. To go back right down the field after that near interception and [lead a] touchdown drive. After the interception on the tip, he puts together another drive, another scoring drive and another one after that, it’s incredible. Having played the position, I know what that’s like. It’s like your brain is just searing, it is like sirens and whistles and bells going off [yells], and to be able to go three, two, one, let it go and then come back and have a scoring drive. That’s another one that’s reserved for the best of the best.”
On QB Justin Herbert adjusting to the blitz tonight:
“He was really doing a tremendous job seeing the field, which he always does. I go back and watch these tapes and it’s so rare that he doesn’t see it or read it or know the exact coverage and where to go with the ball. Then, when it’s all covered, he did another great job tonight running and picking up first downs with his athleticism. It’s just another stellar performance by [QB] Justin Herbert.”
On WR Keenan Allen’s limited usage:
“No, we were in some two-back game, two-back run game and some play action off of that, so it was more of the personnel group, but he was Keenan Allen again tonight – Third-and-Keenan. He’s just an incredible player, nothing but respect for him as well. As I said, the play makers were on it tonight – [WR] Ladd McConkey, [TE] Oronde Gadsden. I mean, on Ladd’s touchdown, they doubled Oronde which is – that’s respect. He made his presence felt. He’s continuing to build and get better and better. I think I mentioned it earlier, some of our young players are really doing a great job and [DL] Justin Eboigbe, how about him? Two sacks, Justin Eboigbe, there was another great performance by him. It was physical, it was violent. He’s really impacting the game. This is another one, another game where he keeps getting better and better. It’s a good formula, you know, the improvement-will-lead-to-success formula. “
On TE Oronde Gadsden continuing to contribute and grow:
“He’s just super talented. The thing that strikes me the most is he plays like he’s been playing in the NFL for two, three, four years. He seems like a four-year, five-year player to me. I’m sure that Mr. Gadsden and Mrs. Gadsden have poured that into him and with his dad playing, you could probably connect the dots there that he’s been in the league his whole life. That’s how he plays. That’s how he approaches everything that he does in the meeting environment [and] the training environment. Even after he had a couple good games early, he kept saying ‘I have to keep going coach. I have to keep pushing.’ That’s been well coached into him and well parented into [TE] Oronde [Gadsden] and it bodes well for the Chargers.”
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS QUARTERBACK JUSTIN HERBERT
On bounce back performance tonight:
“It was a big win for us. A big opportunity for us to go correct some of our mistakes and I felt all three phases did that. It’s just good to see a Charger win today.”
On having T Joe Alt back:
“It was awesome. We’ve definitely missed him. It’s tough to replace a guy like that but I think the tackles that we’ve had the past few weeks have done an incredible job stepping up and just good to see [T] Joe [Alt] back out there. Hopefully everything’s good and happy to have him back.”
On TE Oronde Gadsden:
“As soon as he got here for camp we knew he was going to be pretty good. He made a ton of plays, picked up the offense really quickly and just found a way to get open. That’s what he did tonight and we’re definitely going to get him the ball as much as we can because good things happen when he gets it.”
On what to attribute success in situational spaces to:
“I think it was just good emphasis on it. I thought we had a good plan. Guys were dialed in all week at practice and we just went out there and executed. I think that’s the most important thing is going out and making plays. Whether it was second or first down, we did our best to stay in front of the chains to set ourselves up for good third downs.”
On protection plan:
“I thought the offensive line did a great job. We had a great protection plan. We were prepared for a lot of the blitzes that they were going to bring. Just going out and scrambling and doing whatever we can to convert those third downs I think is most important and the offensive line giving me enough time to get the ball off. Then if a lane opens up use my feet and go get the first down.”
On RB Kimani Vidal’s work ethic and ability to step in this season:
“We’re really lucky to have him. To lose two backs like that, that are as good as they get, it’s tough to replace them. I think [RB] Kimani [Vidal]’s done such a good job of stepping up and making plays. The past couple of weeks he’s done an awesome job, whether it’s catching or running out of the back field. He is a true leader, great teammate on this team and glad to have him.”
On coaching staff preparing backups to get in the game:
“I think that’s the great thing about the NFL is you have so many talented guys on your roster. Adversity, injuries are going to happen each year. That’s just the way it is. All across the league guys are going down and I think the great thing is guys step up and take leadership and control of this room. I think it’s awesome to see guys go make plays, guys stepping in at right guard or left guard. It’s good to have those guys that make plays.”
On physicality on both sides of the ball in tonight’s game:
“I think it’s always there. I think it’s just a great job going out and executing and understanding the game plan. It’s obviously a quick week but guys have done a great job studying their play books and going out and practicing, walking through it, getting those mental reps, so we can go out there and be able to execute.”
MINNESOTA VIKINGS HEAD COACH KEVIN O’CONNELL
Opening Statement:
“[We’ll] get you an injury update here in a second, but nothing much to say. We got outplayed, we got outcoached, we did not – there are no excuses. Injuries, short week, whatever it is, that is not in any way, shape or form our standard of what we want to put on the field and we’ve got, as I told our team, we’ve got an opportunity in front of us where we need to own this. This is not ‘bury the tape’ kind of a time for our organization. This is a watch it, view it, own it. Every coach, every player. That starts with me. I did not have our team prepared to play and we’ll go back to many aspects of what we need to improve on from a standpoint in any way, shape or form on initial feel, it feels like a lot of technique, fundamentals, things that are correctable. I believe in our players wholeheartedly. I believe in every opportunity we have, we’re going to go out there and put our best foot forward both on the practice field and every opportunity we have as a team. I think we’ll be able to get healthy in some spots here that are critical for our ability to have success but once again, injuries and any other excuse, if you go looking for them, we’ll find them. We will not be doing that. We’re going to meet this head on as an organization. That’s what we’re going to do. Injury-wise, [T] Christian Darrisaw tried to give it a go, [I] commend him for trying to do that on a short week coming off of what’s been a trying time for him early on in the season after such a catastrophic, significant knee injury a year ago. Just couldn’t continue to give it a go. [TE] Josh Oliver, X-rays were negative on his right foot but we will need to MRI that foot/ankle and see what’s going on there. He’s pretty sore. [CB] Jeff Okudah did get a concussion and [OLB] Jonathan Greenard got a right ankle that will also be evaluated tomorrow.”
On the sloppiness of play:
“There were some times where we were down on the edges at the tackle spot, but it felt like it was more than that. To me it felt like there was some sloppiness, like [G] Blake [Brandel] said in the interior, getting guys covered up, seeing if we could simply execute our quick game at times was more difficult than it should be in some of those ball-out plays. Trying to avoid certain – I would’ve liked to get more runs off, but it’s a circumstance where you’re also trying to make sure you’re not walking yourself right into third and very, very long with the need to try to get eligibles out and also protect on both edges so it’s a little bit of trying to figure out the best way to activate the health of players. We do have in our receiving corps and [TE] TJ [Hockenson] in the passing game, but I got to do a better job mitigating the challenges that we face in a game like we did tonight and it wasn’t good enough.”
On QB Carson Wentz’s injury status:
“We kept on checking in, maybe getting [QB] Max [Brosmer] ready to go. [Vice President of Player Health and Performance] Tyler [Williams] was coming to me a lot tonight but every time he seemed to update me on that, [QB] Carson [Wentz] was – he was sore going into it when he was in but took obviously quite a few hits but he was able to – I asked him multiple times where he was at. He said he was good and wanted to keep going. It did seem like he was in pain there a couple of times, a few times.”
On thinking about putting QB Max Brosmer in earlier:
“Yeah, we did. I think what you have to – [QB] Carson’s [Wentz] a veteran player. He understands kind of some of our circumstances tonight. I think it’s very difficult to ask a rookie to go in there for his first performance and have to be weathering it a little bit for the group. I did think about that at different times in the game, but at the same time, the confidence that we have in [QB] Max [Brosmer] and the upside that we see in Max is real, but we also wouldn’t want to send him out there and force a level of trying-to-figure-it-outness that’s probably beyond a guy playing for the first time. That was kind of where the decision was to continue to go with Carson as long as Carson felt like he was healthy enough to keep playing and the medical tidbit as well.”
On approaching the Quarterback position in the coming weeks:
“As we talked about earlier in the week, we worked out [QB] JJ [McCarthy] and he was close. JJ and the medical staff didn’t quite feel like he was there yet, but there was a lot of encouragement that especially with the time we have and where he’s at and the confidence level he thinks he can get to. If JJ is healthy, JJ will play. That’s been the case since the injury. It’s always been kind of my mindset and I believe we’re right, hopefully around the corner from seeing him be healthy, have a week of preparation and go compete because that’s really, that’s what he wants and that’s what he’s been working towards. I know there were a lot of estimates on the injury timeline and everything with a high ankle [sprain]. It ended up being on the longer end, but about what we thought, and we’ll see how [QB] Carson [Wentz] comes out tonight as far as what our overall quarterback depth looks like, but we’ll prepare our team at every position based upon what our health looks like, but we also need to be ready to go to work on the practice field and improve because that is not, like I said, to our standard in any capacity.”
On T Christian Darrisaw’s knee injury resurfacing:
“No, I think whether it was in London or in Dublin going into London and the high snap count, or it’s just the fact that we have [T] Christian [Darrisaw] on a pro plan of attack every week based upon the idea of the type of injury he is coming back from. I’m not going to go into detail with what that injury was, but I would just say there is a layer to Christian doing everything he can, but when he has a higher snap count or here on a very short week with the flight and travel and everything, there is just only so much that we can do. In regards to [T] Brian [O’Neill], Brian worked his absolute tail off to get back, and with his right MCL, he just came out of the game with some left knee swelling, maybe overcompensating, but just couldn’t quite get that out of there. Both those guys, I know, because they’ve proven it before, both of those guys would do anything to be out there with their teammates. I prefer this thing from a doctor. I know it’s been debated my medical prowess when it comes to our injured players playing or not. I very simply listen to our doctors and listen, more importantly to our players as much as I possibly can.”
On toughness of QB Carson Wentz:
“That’s one of the reasons why. When a guy like that, a veteran guy, that’s in there competing, you have to value that. As long as the medical team informs me, which they did a couple times, that he’s no worse than what he came into the game with, you’ve got to give the guy that wants to tow the line and go in there, you have to give him a chance to do that until it becomes he can’t do his job. I did think that last high throw where [WR] Justin [Jefferson] was open on the high cross, maybe a healthy [QB] Carson Wentz hits that throw, but that’s just kind of how the night was. We had the opportunity for a big time explosive [play] there and we missed it. There could be a lot of variables, factors involved. I thought it was one of our cleaner pockets on that play and it just wasn’t our night in any capacity, any way, shape or form from the interception being overturned early on to potentially having one of your biggest plays of the night turn into them having the ball at midfield. It was an avalanche of momentum for them that we tried to overcome. I liked the fight to start the second half from the turnover [S Joshua] Mettellus forces on the pick to putting that ball in the end zone there. We just, in no way, shape or form were good enough tonight to win the football game as coaches or players.”
On not letting this game have a snowball effect moving forward:
“Yeah, I told our team, ‘There are no more trips overseas, there’s no more short weeks,’ outside of late in the year, obviously for our second Thursday game, but I told our team, ‘This is where we’re going to find out what we’re all about, what this year’s team’s all about.’ I’ve always felt a level of compete from our organization, a level of chasing growth throughout the season, regardless of result. You’re hoping when you’re winning 13 or 14 games, you’re still always chasing getting better, but clearly, if you need a result to motivate you, that’s not the type of organization we want to be, but certainly, these circumstances will test what we’re all made of. I told our team, ‘When we get a chance to step out on that grass make sure you are very aware that we’re going back to work and what this is going to look like is going to be a team that constantly chases improvement,’ and we need to after tonight. I also told them, ‘Take honor in being the man in the arena and what that means,’ I told them first and foremost, ‘I’m going to look myself dead in the eye in the mirror and make sure,’ and I think they believe me when I say that my confidence level in this group is as high as it’s ever been, but it’s also important that we look ourselves in the eye after a performance like this and decide the path we are going to take in the foxhole together, what will work. I don’t know any other way than to set a path and a course for this organization to find success and I’m going to lean on our coaches and I’m going to lean most importantly on the locker room and the players and what they’ve built in there to go attack this thing.”
On giving up explosive plays:
“Just talking to Flo [Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores] late in the game and talking to our offense, I think across the board we just need to evaluate what gives us the best chance to sustain because it just felt like it wasn’t our best performance or even an adequate performance in any case. I don’t necessarily want to get into the details of individual sides of the ball, but I will tell you, we’ve got to understand that what we’re going to do moving forward is going to be the things hopefully we do well, and the techniques and fundamentals need to be trained and coached to match that and get back to simple basic things that lead to our talented players having the chance to go out there and win the down, win the drive, win the series, win the quarter and compete for four quarters. I didn’t question our team’s competition or compete at all. It just felt like we weren’t good enough in any of our three phases today.”
On cleaning up technique and fundamentals in the next week:
“Yeah, well hopefully the good thing is next week won’t be a short week. We’ll get a chance to get out there on Monday. We’ll get a chance to have three, four days of practice after that. I thought our guys, two years in a row, these Thursday games, we’ve had very physical, kind of down to the end type of games at home the week before against good teams and then we just – I don’t believe we ran out of gas tonight. I don’t believe we did enough things well enough to fight the fight and match our willingness to compete with playing against a really good football team at home and not doing a lot of things that give you a chance to find and seek out the momentum and see if you can capture it and keep it. It’s a real thing, and we let it get away from us early tonight, and weren’t able to get it back.”
MINNESOTA VIKINGS QUARTERBACK CARSON WENTZ
On overall feeling about tonight’s game:
“Yeah, I’ve felt better. That was a tough one. Thursday nights are always tough but that was a little extra tough. I’ve felt better but we’re walking, and we’re alright.”
On feeling the need to exit the game due to injury concerns:
“No, I didn’t. Pain is pain. I felt like I could still help this team and find a way to go down and score and all that stuff. We knew that coming into the game that that was going to be part of it but again, that’s the tough part of Thursday night games. We just don’t quite get the chance to recover but that’s no excuse by any means. I felt when I was playing out there, I felt fine.”
On facing pressure from the defense:
“Hats off to that defense, honestly, on a short week. I thought they did a really good job and made it tough on us. Scheme wise, they got some really good players. We were banged up and we had moving pieces even within the game up front. I thought guys competed their tails off. I could always be better and get the ball out quicker and make some plays and decisions faster but the defense made it tough tonight.”
On the Chargers defense:
“That’s a good defense. I’ll start there. That’s a very good defense. They made it tough on us. They kind of made us one dimensional there which makes it even tougher so on a short week they played better than us tonight. I can be better too to help that out.”
On emotional moment on sidelines:
“Yeah, I’m not proud of that. I apologize to the equipment guys for that one but yeah, I was in a good amount of pain.”
On mechanics being affected by injury:
“I don’t think so. I don’t think throwing wise. That’s honestly why I felt confident to go. I felt like I could do my job. I thought I could throw the ball. Hopefully you don’t need your left shoulder all that much to throw the football. So mechanically, throwing wise I felt like I could do everything I needed to.”
On emotional moment on the sidelines:
“I mean it was natural frustration in there too but it was a tough second half physically for sure.”
On approach to injury the rest of the season:
“I don’t know yet. I don’t know. It’s a week by week, day by day thing right now and we’ll see.”
On the 3-4 record:
“Yeah, it’s still early in the season. Obviously, we’re three and four and we know where we’re at and we got an impressive division. We’re kind of in a foxhole so to speak with that, but you can’t look at that. We got divisional opponents coming up here and those’ll be some huge games to kind of get us back on track within our division and all that stuff, so yeah obviously not where we want to be. No one ever wants to be three and four but at the end of the day there is a lot of football left and I think a lot of good football left for this team.”
On playing through injury:
“I don’t know. I’m just trying to do everything I can to help this team. I feel confident even with the pain, that I could help, that I can contribute and make plays and spread this ball around and I thought we did okay at times. We left plenty of things out there. The interception, I thought maybe we had a little chance to kind of put something together and go down there and I just missed it. I got to do better there but at the end of the day, I feel like I’m physically able to go whether it hurts or not. It is what it is.”
On wearing a sleeve for injury management:
“Yeah, there’s layers to it. I’m not going to get into all the specifics but I’ve never worn anything even remotely close to all that but at the end of the day, it was helpful to at least get me through it.”
On practicing with the sleeve prior to the game:
“I did walkthrough with it yesterday actually, which was weird. I was the only guy out there in pads, but just to feel it and get used to it. No excuses there honestly. It’s weird but again, I walked out there feeling confident that I could throw the ball and do my job.”
On potentially being in the worst pain during a career game:
“Quite possibly. Quite possibly.”
On the confidence in this group moving forward:
“Yeah, I mean I just know the guys in that locker room. I know the guys, the coaches. I know I’ve still only been here for a short period of time but I know the resolve, the resiliency, and the character of the guys in there that I think that gives me confidence. I know coach [Kevin O’Connell] being the leader in this building is as positive as it gets. I know he’ll do everything he can in his power to get us right and so I have a lot of confidence in the guys. Hopefully, we can keep getting some guys back healthy and all that stuff. This was a short week. This was a tough one. We just didn’t have it tonight. The NFL is weird. It’s hard to win, hard to be consistent so at the end of the day, you just turn the page and go attack the next week.”
On Aaron Jones returning:
“Yeah, I mean I was excited for [RB] Aaron [Jones] to come back. Obviously he was, I don’t actually know how it all unfolded but he was limited in some capacity in terms of a pitch count, whatever it was, but, just the dimension that he brings to the table whether fully shown tonight or not, I think defenses are very aware when he is in the game and his ability to just slash and take two yards into twenty real quick. I would love to maybe connect a few more times in the passing game. That was one thing that I wish we could’ve hit on the one down there in the red zone but, he’s dynamic and I wish we could’ve done it better. First play of the game, I wish I could’ve hit him a little better but I was just not on the same page there. It’s just some small things but, yeah I know he’s a very talented player and I was pretty fired up to play with him tonight and hopefully he made it out okay that he can continue to help this team.”
