A look at the Chargers’
28-20 home victory over Dallas on Saturday night:
First, some bad, bad news:
Second-year receiver
Vincent Brown suffered a broken left ankle. U-T San Diego reports that he will have surgery and will miss at least eight weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the injury takes even more time to heal. What a shame.
Brown looked great this summer and was going to be the Chargers’ No. 3 receiver. This injury means
Eddie Royal, who has been hurt during camp, must step up to help this receiving crew.
OK, I know you will ask: Does Brown's injury mean the Chargers could be in on
Plaxico Burress or
Chad Johnson? Well, it would be unlike San Diego general manager A.J. Smith to add either player, but there is a hole at the position.
This is truly a bad loss for San Diego, which is without starting running back
Ryan Mathews for a month or so after he suffered a shoulder injury last week. The Chargers have been ravaged by injuries the past three years and the 2012 season hasn’t started any differently.
The Chargers worked on building depth this offseason; it is paying off in the preseason. The Chargers’ backups led a comeback Saturday night and have looked good in both preseason games.
That is all well and fine, but San Diego’s first-team offense was sloppy again. All 15 of
Philip Rivers’ passes were caught Saturday night. But two of them were caught by Cowboys.
Rivers has thrown three interceptions in two preseason games. He was picked off 20 times last season. Rivers has looked really good in the preseason, but interceptions just can’t happen -- he must improve in this area.
Rookie defenders
Melvin Ingram and
Kendall Reyes continued to make an impact. These guys are going to be fun to watch.
Backup cornerback
Shareece Wright had an interception with a long return. He has looked good this summer.
