4 Major Overreactions to Chargers Training Camp's First Padded Practice

The Los Angeles Chargers hit San Diego for the first padded practice of training camp.

To say there are some overreactions would be an understatement.

There, the battle at left guard continued to take expected (controversial) shape and a major injury scare caused some problems.

Naturally, it’s overreactions time.

Chargers training camp overreactions

Jake Slaughter panic meter

It’s time to panic a bit.

The Chargers have annually underwhelmed at how they address the guard spot in front of Justin Herbert. Mekhi Becton, anyone?

Now, here comes Slaughter, a second-round pick and college center. He’s earmarked for the starting guard spot, but his pro journey started by losing chances to the likes of Kayode Awosika, Trevor Penning, Trey Pipkins and Branson Taylor. Oh, and he’s repped as the second-team center.

To start padded practices, Slaughter was just a guy. Head coach Jim Harbaugh later implied Awosika is in the lead and Slaughter is “in the mix,” which is true: The mix just includes at least five players so far.

Brenen Thompson is a breakout

It was easy to handwave the Chargers drafting Brenen Thompson as just a Mike McDaniel thing. He’s a rookie with 4.26 speed, go figure. It still looked like it would be hard for him to break through on a depth chart that has Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston and second-year upstart Tre Harris.

And yet here comes Thompson.

Thompson keeps getting important reps in the offense, so he’s not going to just get sidelined or stuck on special teams returns. It’s also looking like he won’t just be a gadget package player, either.

Call it good news for the Chargers, plus bad news for fringe roster guys like KeAndre Lambert-Smith.

Justin Herbert hype was fair

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert — Justin Herbert | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It felt like silly talking-head stuff all offseason when onlookers reacted to the arrival of McDaniel as some career-altering thing for Herbert that could lead to playoff success, MVP talks and all the other big possible accolades.

It’s coming true so far.

The signs were there, of course. McDaniel showed up, installed his offense, added players at every spot on the depth chart of his own choosing and forced Herbert to rework his long-established footwork in certain formations to get the ball out faster.

Herbert looks comfortable with the new footwork in certain alignments and is zipping the ball around quicker after the snap. If there are any concerns with how he’s taking to McDaniel’s overall scheme, they’re near-impossible to see.

Rashawn Slater injury watch

Time to panic here, for sure.

The Chargers just started padded practices at training camp and elite tackle Rashawn Slater exited with an injury.

Players commented after the fact that Slater had wanted to get back out there, which sounds good. But fans are right to feel some concern, considering Slater suffered the season-ending injury last year in camp not long after signing a mega-extension.

More importantly, the Chargers need Slater to be his elite self at one of the tackle spots to help support the three interior spots that feature new starters. A first-week-of-August injury scare sets a rough tone.

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