Chargers’ Freeney talks rookies, comeback
Dwight Freeney’s spot on the Chargers is secure. But like millionaire entertainer Jennifer Lopez on American Idol, the seven-time Pro Bowler advised young teammates who’ll play in Thursday’s exhibition finale at Qualcomm Stadium against the Cardinals.
“Look,” Freeney said, “just be loose.”
He reminded candidates that when the game starts at 7 p.m., Chargers coaches and scouts won’t be the only NFL brass watching.
“Just put the best film you can out on yourself,” he said, “because really, you’re selling your talents to 31 other teams. Every time you step on the field, it’s your resume. If it doesn’t work here, it could easily work somewhere else.”
It’s not necessarily the best players who survive, Freeney told his young charges, but those who fit best.
“You might have a guy who’s a baller at, I don’t know, the running back position, but we’re already four-deep at the position so you might have to get released,” he said.
Comeback on track
Freeney said he’s ready for the season, his 13th since the Colts took him 11th in the 2002 draft. He reported no concerns relating to the ruptured quad tendon Sept 29th that ended his season and led to surgery. The linebacker said it took only a day or two in training camp, which began July 24, for him to know the leg was fine.
His only exhibition cameo came last Sunday, when he played seven snaps against the 49ers. The previous morning, coaches told him he’d be in the lineup.
“For me, I already knew that I will be OK,” he said, “but it’s part of the process. They want to see you out there, make sure you don’t have butterflies. Knock off the rust or cobwebs.”
Special circumstances
Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco, a Colts colleague for most of the player’s tenure in Indianapolis, has described Freeney as a fast healer.
Ex-Chargers edge rusher and 1989 first-round draftee Burt Grossman mentioned Freeney as a potential difference maker. Grossman had 10 sacks in each of his two seasons but tailed off and was out of the NFL at age 27. Freeney has seven seasons with at least 10 sacks. His sack total, however, has declined each of the last four years -- 10, 8.5, 5.5 and 0.5.
Freeney beat Chargers starting tackles in pass-rush drills. But at 34, he’s the team’s oldest defender and, along with Jarret Johnson, the only one in his 30s.
“I just don’t now what Freeney has left in the tank,” Grossman said from Chargers Park this month. “When you are that age, you stumble and you’re out for the year.”
Injured when a Cowboys tackle horse-collared him after getting beaten, Freeney said the only unknown he has about his body is stamina.
“You can run all you want in the offseason,” he said. “But sometimes the adrenaline that goes with the game gets your heartbeat rate a little faster, so it’s always kind of hard to get in game-shape right away.”
NOTABLY
• Wednesday’s walk-through practice was at MCAS Miramar.
• Asked about replacing injured first- and second-string nose tackles, the latter out for the year, John Pagano said, “We won’t blink.” Rookies Ryan Carrethers and Tenny Palepoi seem to be the lead candidates, until starter Sean Lissemore (ankle) returns.
