Throughout training camp, the Los Angeles Chargers' social-media team couldn't post enough footage of new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel interacting with head coach Jim Harbaugh.
If only that type
of access could have been available this week following the Chargers' disappointing Week 1 loss to the Arizona Cardinals , 26-14, despite entering as the weekend's heaviest favorites, according to oddsmakers.
Speaking Thursday for the first time since the loss, McDaniel called the performance – in which the Chargers mustered 268 total yards – "shocking."
"It was kind of shocking in its own right," McDaniel told reporters.
McDaniel explained that the surprise was that the product throughout the offseason and training camp never resembled what the Chargers executed. Aside from late rushing yards by Justin Herbert, the run game was virtually nonexistent, with running backs Omarion Hampton and Keaton Mitchell rushing for a combined 52 yards on 16 carries.
"You have a lot of visions coming to a new team and working on something for months, and the vision never looked like that," McDaniel added.
After four seasons as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, McDaniel was fired in January. He immediately became one of the most-coveted play callers on the market, with Harbaugh scooping him up to work with Herbert in a move analysts have anticipated being explosive all offseason.
Questions about the interior of the offensive line, which features a rookie center and a rotation of two players at left guard currently, aren't making McDaniel's job any easier.
McDaniel's scheme may have to face the visiting Las Vegas Raiders without wide receiverLadd McConkey, who left with a chest contusion in the third quarter against Arizona. McConkey was the team's leading receiver with five catches, 82 yards and a touchdown.
"It worked out totally the opposite way that we saw. And what are you going to do about it?" McDaniel said of the Chargers' response to the Week 1 loss. "That's what I love about football. That's what I love about this week, because you can't hide. You got to go and face the music."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chargers' Mike McDaniel on poor offensive showing in Week 1 loss: 'Kind of shocking'
