EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — In two seasons as the Los Angeles Chargers’ defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter has proven himself to be one of the most creative minds in football.
But even Minter acknowledges there are times when his scheming is secondary to the natural pass rush talent at his disposal.
Minter knew he had to reimagine his pass rush this season after the salary-cap release of Joey Bosa, the five-time Pro Bowl selection who spent nine years
leading the Chargers’ pursuit of quarterbacks — when he was healthy, at least.
With Khalil Mack returning as the group’s anchor, Tuli Tuipulotu continuing to develop and Odafe Oweh making a major impact as a midseason addition, the Chargers (7-4) believe they’ve cobbled together a pass rush that can keep them in contention in the quarterback-rich AFC West.
“I mean, it’s what wins in this league on passing downs is the ability to affect the quarterback,” Minter said. “Some teams do it by designing super-well-designed blitzes and all that stuff, and I think there’s times where you've got to do that. I really think most people would say that if you can get the pressure that you want with four and cover the guys that are out there, that’s harder to go against, even though, yeah, the blitzes are really hard, too.”
The Chargers’ ability to disrupt through their edge rushers had been coming together nicely — at least until their 35-6 loss at Jacksonville last Sunday, when nothing went right for the defense at any level. Before that setback, Mack thought the position group was on the right track to maximize its considerable potential.
“And we building it, we making sure we communicating and all those different things throughout the week, practice and meetings,” Mack said. “It’s not as great as we want it to be right now, but it’s trending that way.”
The upside of the pass rush grew when the Chargers traded for Oweh on Oct. 7, acquiring the five-year NFL veteran and a 2027 seventh-round draft pick from Baltimore in exchange for safety Alohi Gilman and a fifth-round selection.
Los Angeles made the move because Mack had dislocated an elbow against the Raiders in Week 2, sidelining him for four weeks and exposing a lack of consistent production opposite Tuipulotu.
Minter’s first season in charge benefited from the ability to frequently play Mack, Tuipulotu and Bosa together at the same time, with Tuipulotu proving especially adept at pass rushing from an inside position. While the Bolts’ decision to drop Bosa last March was probably prudent since the former No. 3 overall pick had just 14 sacks over the previous three seasons while only managing to play in 28 of their 51 games, the lack of a suitable replacement was evident.
Now, Minter has been able to deploy Mack, Tuipulotu and Oweh on obvious passing downs, and their willingness to work together has helped recharge the ability to create pressure. Minter praised each of their inclinations to run games, stunts and even drop into coverage to create the most favorable matchups for one another.
“I think that makes it work is the unselfishness of the three of them,” Minter said. “Really, Bud (Dupree) as well. So having the edge room be a strength, I think any defensive coach would love to have that.”
That willingness to sacrifice, Mack said, isn't always a given, especially with the financial rewards that typically come with big individual sack tallies. It hasn’t been an issue for the Chargers, even with Oweh in a contract year and Tuipulotu eligible for a contract extension at the end of this season, his third in the NFL.
“It keeps the vibes high, you know, everybody can stay happy ‘cause everybody kind of getting they wins throughout the game,” Mack said. “It’s super important to keep the vibes high in the edge room ’cause it can be a competitive room. Guys (could) probably be hating on this or hating on that, but we ain’t got those kind of guys.
"We want to win, by any means, and so whatever it takes, whatever it takes to win, we willing to do for each other.”
Oweh went from having no sacks in five games with the Ravens to posting four in his first four games for the Chargers. Tuipulotu had four sacks in a five-game span coinciding with Oweh’s arrival. Mack had three in his first four games after returning from injury and being able to play with Oweh.
“It’s just getting more familiar with each other,” Mack said. “It’s just getting more familiar with each other’s games. Knowing what certain guys like, knowing different sides guys like to be on at certain times of the game, and just playing off of each other. So, yeah, that confidence is growing.”
Before the dud in Jacksonville, Los Angeles had 13 combined sacks against Minnesota, Tennessee and Pittsburgh during a three-game winning streak. Oweh, Mack and Tuipulotu had eight of them.
“The way those four guys, especially the three that are out there a lot on the passing downs," Minter said, “the way they have rushed the past three or four games is a great vision that we have hopefully for the second part of the year.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
