The Los Angeles Chargers are 1-0 on the season after defeating the Las Vegas Raider 22-10 on Sunday.
Issues really feel totally different this yr for the Chargers with head coach Jim Harbaugh on the helm. Key gamers have signified their appreciation for what Harbaugh’s already achieved that deserves respect.
“To have a man main the cost like that and a locker room that buys in and follows him, it is a big day as nicely for him to get his first win,” quarterback Justin Herbert stated, per ESPN’s Kris Rhim.
The Chargers completed the 2023 season with a 5-12 file and have targets exponentially bigger than that sort of destiny this season. Harbaugh is coming off a nationwide championship win with Michigan, and he introduced a number of Wolverines employees members with him to Los Angeles, together with defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and director of participant efficiency Ben Herbert. The Michigan affect has been a constructive for the workforce.
Defensive finish Khalil Mack, who had 1.5 sacks in Week 1, believes their win in opposition to the Raiders, a workforce that beat the Chargers 63-21 final season, confirmed how critical they have been getting ready this offseason.
“It signifies what him and Herb and Minter and all people has been preaching,” Mack said, per The Athletic. “We’ve been shopping for in.”
The Chargers are shopping for in due to the inventive methods Harbaugh tries to make a degree. For instance, Harbaugh gifted the workforce blue-collar work shirts, per Chargers defensive deal with Poona Ford. The shirt and the message will need to have labored for Ford, who wore the shirt to the stadium and would go on to have a game-sealing interception within the fourth quarter.
“I wore mine to the sport truly,” Ford stated, per Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg. “I believe Coach Harbaugh’s message was to get able to go to work. I really feel like right now we sort of set the tone for what we wish to be this season.”
Chargers security Derwin James Jr. thinks this may very well be a fantastic yr for the workforce, in the event that they maintain doing what they’re doing.
“It may be one thing particular,” James Jr. stated. “If we simply maintain working and do not get tired of the small print and maintain shopping for in.”
Whereas Harbaugh deservedly receives a ton of credit score for his Chargers getting a Week 1 win, he is aware of one of the simplest ways to proceed momentum in Week 2 in opposition to the Carolina Panthers and past is to not pat himself on the again and direct the main focus again on the athletes.
“The tradition’s already right here. Me and all the brand new guys, we stepped into it,” Harbaugh stated. “We are the fortunate ones. The tradition right here is figure.”
We’ll see if the working tradition stays a successful tradition this season for the Chargers, who’re at the moment tied for first within the AFC West with the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs.
