SAN DIEGO – San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy emphasized that Thursday’s final preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals was about picking the best 53 players for the regular season and not game-planning for the team’s regular-season opener against the same team on Sept. 8.

“It was a very productive offseason,” McCoy said. “And now it’s the tough time of the business for us, as coaches and as an organization, the personnel department – everything – of making some very tough decisions moving forward of who the best 53 are for the football team, and picking the practice squad.”

McCoy said the team will not announce roster cuts until Saturday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline. However, news has trickled out on a couple of the releases.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that San Diego released cornerback Crezdon Butler.

Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego reports receiver Tevin Reese, quarterback Brad Sorensen, and defensive linemen Doug Worthington and Joe Kruger have been released.

None of these moves have been confirmed by the team.

In terms of the schedule, McCoy said his coaching staff will evaluate film from Thursday’s game and clean up mistakes made by players who make the final roster. And then the Chargers will begin preparing for Arizona, with a couple extra days to get a jump on game-planning for the Cardinals.

“You’ve got to study,” McCoy said. “You’ve got to watch as much film as you can. And we’ve got some extra days to take advantage of it. But I also think it’s important for some guys to take a deep breath for a couple days. Take care of your body No. 1, and get ready for the marathon. It’s a long season.”