Chargers look forward to facing Cowboys' Phillips
The Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers can't wait to leave the practice field and hit a real opponent. The fact that Saturday's preseason opponent will be the Dallas Cowboys is even more intriguing for the defending AFC West champs.
A unique buzz surrounds this matchup of Super Bowl contenders as Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips returns to San Diego where was defensive coordinator before heading to Dallas last season.
"Obviously the whole organization thinks this is a nice test for us against a high quality opponent coming off similar success that we had," linebacker Matt Wilhelm said. "Top to bottom we kind of mirror each other. It's going to be exciting."
Phillips was an assistant in San Diego from 2004-06, installing the team's 3-4 defense.
Wilhelm is eager to show his old coach his game. The sixth-year pro is entering his second year as a starter, but the first in which he is healthy. A calf injury last year forced Wilhelm to miss most of three of the
Chargers' first four games but he still finished second on the team with 144 tackles.
"I understand now what it takes to be a professional," he said. "I thought I knew, but it's the week-in, week-out rigors you deal with mentally and physically that are ever-changing."
The Chargers enter the preseason without several injured players: defensive ends Luis Castillo (back) and Igor Olshansky (back), wide receiver Vincent Jackson (hamstring), defensive end Jamal Williams (knees) and left tackle Marcus McNeill (stinger).
Running back LaDainian Tomlinson, the two-time defending NFL rushing leader, will not play because coach Norv Turner wants to rest him before the season. Quarterback Philip Rivers will take the first 15-20 snaps before giving way to Billy Volek and Charlie Whitehurst.
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers can't wait to leave the practice field and hit a real opponent. The fact that Saturday's preseason opponent will be the Dallas Cowboys is even more intriguing for the defending AFC West champs.
A unique buzz surrounds this matchup of Super Bowl contenders as Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips returns to San Diego where was defensive coordinator before heading to Dallas last season.
"Obviously the whole organization thinks this is a nice test for us against a high quality opponent coming off similar success that we had," linebacker Matt Wilhelm said. "Top to bottom we kind of mirror each other. It's going to be exciting."
Phillips was an assistant in San Diego from 2004-06, installing the team's 3-4 defense.
Wilhelm is eager to show his old coach his game. The sixth-year pro is entering his second year as a starter, but the first in which he is healthy. A calf injury last year forced Wilhelm to miss most of three of the
Chargers' first four games but he still finished second on the team with 144 tackles.
"I understand now what it takes to be a professional," he said. "I thought I knew, but it's the week-in, week-out rigors you deal with mentally and physically that are ever-changing."
The Chargers enter the preseason without several injured players: defensive ends Luis Castillo (back) and Igor Olshansky (back), wide receiver Vincent Jackson (hamstring), defensive end Jamal Williams (knees) and left tackle Marcus McNeill (stinger).
Running back LaDainian Tomlinson, the two-time defending NFL rushing leader, will not play because coach Norv Turner wants to rest him before the season. Quarterback Philip Rivers will take the first 15-20 snaps before giving way to Billy Volek and Charlie Whitehurst.
posted by The Gryphon at 5:45 PM
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