Chargers vs. Rams joint practice: Bolts defense shines, offense worrisome

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The two NFL teams in Los Angeles met at "The Bolt" on Sunday morning for a joint practice.

It was a good test for both teams. Sean McVay's Rams are considered a Super Bowl contender, and Jim Harbaugh's Chargers are considered a potential playoff-caliber squad.

The Chargers have three fields in their facility. The one closest to the building was used for the Chargers' offense versus the Rams' defense, the middle field was used for special teams, and the far field was used for the Chargers' defense versus the Rams' offense.

The high point was the Chargers' defense, but this will start with the offense.

No, Justin Herbert, BIG PROBLEM

After Herbert's injury last week, Harbaugh said it was "full steam ahead."

At the beginning of practice, it was evident that Easton Stick would struggle, not because Trey Pipkins was missing due to injury but because of a noticeable drop-off. 

Yes, Justin Herbert is a Pro Bowl caliber player who can make all the reads and throws, but what was seen on Sunday was ugly.

Stick did have a sequence during the last part of practice in which he fumbled the snap and was quickly sacked. He overthrew Brenden Rice, and as he was walking off in turn for Max Duggan, Harbaugh asked him to continue as quarterback with the second team. He did much better, leading the team to a "last-second field goal" by Cameron Dicker. It was a 1:20 left on the clock drill.

"Right now, Easton is the starting quarterback today and he's working with the first unit," Roman said. "You got the first-string O-Line out there. That's a good place to be. It is different than second half of preseason games for sure."

The running game was positive, with Gus Edwards, JK Dobbins, and Jarret Patterson having some good runs. The offensive line did face some adversity at times, especially with a vicious front of Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner, Byron Young, and Bobby Brown. It would be a challenging task, but they held their own.

Not a good day for any of the quarterbacks

Now for the Chargers defense, they played with a sense of purpose on Sunday. This was the first opportunity to watch Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter against competition.

"When you get an opportunity to test it against a different opponent, it's certainly great when you get the results," Minter said.

In total, the Chargers' defense caused six turnovers in the Rams' offense, five of which occurred when Matthew Stafford was the quarterback.

"Results build confidence," Minter said. "It started to stack up the last three of four days where guys were playing with a lot of confidence and trusting each other and starting to really understand fits and routes and things like that."

The play that got everything started was Jimmy Garoppolo's pass to receiver Xavier Smith, which Chargers safety Tony Jefferson went up for with Smith. The ball popped up and was intercepted by Nick Niemann. It set the tone.

Later in practice, safety Alohi Gilman showed off a skill that helped the defense numerous times last season: knocking the ball out of an offensive player's hands, with linebacker Daiyan Henley recovering it.

Linebacker Denzel Perryman came up with an interception when one of the defensive linemen put their hands up and popped up a Stafford pass that fell into Perryman's hands.

Hitting pause on the turnovers for a second because safety Derwin James has been saying they will be a physical defense. Physicality is what a Jim Harbaugh team is known for, so what was seen during red zone shouldn't come as a surprise.

Stafford handed the ball to rookie running back Blake Corum, who thought he had a window for the end zone off the right side. James quickly closed it up with a good hit on the back.

The very next play, the Rams tried a jet sweep with Puka Nacua coming toward the right side, but Gilman came running in and took him down to the ground, which McVay didn't appreciate and told Gilman to be smarter, but it was a good football play.

"We want to be tone-setters," James said. "I know me and Lo, that's always our motto."

In the following play, Stafford thought he had Nacua in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, but James deflected it into the hands of Asante Samuel Jr. for the interception.

"It was scramble drill and I was trying to find a receiver," James said. "I couldn't get it myself and I just wanted to tip it up. Zont made a great play on it."

Joey Bosa was wreaking havoc on Stafford during 11-on-11s before exiting practice early. He had a strip sack on the Rams quarterback during the red zone and kept providing pressure.

"Joey is a monster. Him and Khalil," Minter said. "When you take this job, you're like, 'OK, you've got Bosa and Mack,' and you start thinking about the possibilities of what that could look like. Then it looks like that."

Another pass rusher that made a difference was Tuli Tuipulotu toward the end of practice when he tipped a pass up that cornerback Kristian Fulton intercepted.

"The ball was like a volleyball today, it was tipping up everywhere," James said. "That's how it felt today. You can see it, it's real and we felt that from our guys getting off the ball today, they did a great job."

Nuts & Bolts

Fulton is turning in a solid start to training camp. He has been in receivers' faces during 1-on-1, knocking down passes non-7-on-7 and being a difference maker during 11-on-11. 

On Sunday, he was shadowing Cooper Kupp going down the sideline when Stafford threw a pass into his bread basket, but Fulton smacked the ball out of his hands. If he doesn't, it will be an easy touchdown. A couple of plays later, Fulton swatted a pass intended for Kupp as if he were Dikembe Mutombo.

"Ballhawk, around the ball," James said of Fulton. "Ball magnet. Everything, you name it. He's making a lot of plays, he's seeing the plays, trusting it and he's playing fast."

The Chargers pass rush will be a problem for offensive lines this season. Bosa, Khalil Mack, Tuipulotu, and Bud Dupree consistently put pressure on the Rams' offense while helping seal up the running attack.

"It allows us to play fast," James said. "Having those four guys with depth, it's going to be very fun this season. We just need to come out and do our part in the secondary, and I'm sure linebackers will do their part, too."

Obviously, both teams were missing some key players, but it was a good demonstration of what the squads needed to improve.

The Chargers offense will still be without Herbert for the time being, but the coaching staff has to consider a backup plan just in case. What was seen on Sunday will not help the team win any games if their starting quarterback misses time.

On the defensive side, it had to give the defense a little bit of a glimpse of what they can be if they continue to put in the work and stay disciplined because that was a good practice against an offense that is coming off a great 2023 season.

"It feels amazing," James said. "To be able to play fast and see the results that we saw today, it felt good as a defense and it let us know that — we don't want to be too high on ourselves, there's more work to be done — but it definitely felt good to go get the ball. That's definitely momentum going forward."