Eric D. Williams 10y

Butler firmly on Bolts' roster bubble

SAN DIEGO -- Living on the fringes of an NFL roster is nothing new for San Diego Chargers cornerback Crezdon Butler.

Entering his fifth NFL season, Butler has had to battle to make a team every year he’s been in the league.

Selected in the fifth round of 2010 draft by Pittsburgh, Butler spent a season with the Steelers before being released during final roster cuts in September of 2011. Since then, Butler’s bounced around the league, spending time with Arizona, Washington and Buffalo before landing in San Diego as a free agent pickup on September 17th of last season.

Butler, 27, was active for 12 games and both postseason contests with the Chargers in 2013, finishing with a four combined tackles.

He’s currently listed as third on the San Diego’s unofficial depth chart at cornerback behind Shareece Wright and rookie Jason Verrett. Butler understands he needs to make a positive impression on Thursday in the team’s last preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals in order to have a shot of sticking around for the regular season.

“It’s a big day,” Butler said. “Every game is a big game, but it’s final. You’ve got to leave a final impression about yourself on the coaching staff. So it’s a very big day.”

At 6-foot-1 and 191 pounds, Butler is the tallest cornerback on San Diego’s roster. Butler said he entered Clemson the same year as Seattle Seahawks cornerback Byron Maxwell, so he had to compete for reps at the same position with Maxwell every year while with the Tigers.

“I’ve been grinding since college,” Butler said. “You’ve just got to keep going, and that’s it. Regardless of the situation, you can control what you can control, and that’s myself. They’re going to make decisions on Friday, and I’ve just got to focus on what happens on Thursday.”

One thing working in Butler’s favor is a firm knowledge of Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano’s scheme, and the fact that coaches know he’ll carry his assignment out on the field.

“There’s trust, and that comes into play when they’re making cuts,” he said. “Can we trust this guy to go in and have no slack as far as knowing the defense? I know the defense, I’ve just got to go out there and play it.”

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