Philip Rivers San Diego Chargers Vincent Jackson Turnovers Interceptions

The San Diego Chargers have fallen short of the playoffs despite being division favorites back-to-back years. Now, they’re arguably no longer the team to beat in the AFC West. Things aren’t just changing with the teams around them, but the Chargers themselves have also undergone significant changes this offseason. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers joined Chris Ello and Ben Higgins on Xtra 1360 in San Diego to talk about offseason changes he and the Chargers are focused on, OTAs, the loss of Vincent Jackson, and the addition of Eddie Royal.

On what he’s noticed thus far in offseason practices:

“First thing that stands out is we’re fast. I think we’ve gotten faster. Fast maybe not the word but speed. There’s gonna be a lot of quickness and speed, maybe more than we’ve had. We’ve always been a fast team but that’s the first thing that pops out to me.”

On the vast number of new faces making these OTAs especially important:

“These OTAs may be even more valuable than they’ve ever been for us because we have a lot of new pieces. I know the guys that affect me the most — Eddie Royal, (Robert) Meachem, (Roscoe) Parrish, (Michael) Spurlock, (Le’Ron) McLain, Ronnie Brown, Dante Rosario — that’s a lot of guys now that are new to us on the offensive side. And obviously there’s some defensively as well. We’ve gotten better every day and we’re not where we need to be, but we’re headed in the right direction.

On losing Vincent Jackson :

“He was a great player, so certainly you miss it. But at the same time, obviously I’m super excited about who we added and what they’re gonna bring.”

On Eddie Royal:

“He jumped out to me these first few OTAs. He’s kind of an added dimension that we hadn’t had here maybe since the Sproles type. … Just that dimension of a guy who’s got some of that jitter bug, but can also take a punt back.”

On what he is working on personally this offseason:

“I think the biggest thing is obviously taking care of the football — something I’ve done for the most part in my career and last year wasn’t as good at it. So that’s always an emphasis, but that’s the biggest thing that stood out, because we went up and down the field, but you have two turnovers in crucial situations and you lose the game.”