It’s been an eventful off-season and a dramatic camp. The big three holdouts are still unseen in Chargers activities. Fortunately, all of our draft picks are now signed. We had a bit of a wrinkle with Ryan Mathews brief display of discontent, but that monster bedded down almost as fast as it arose. Still now sign of Vincent Jackson, Marcus McNeill, or Shawne Merriman. Though, it seems fans are getting used to that sight. The worst thing on fans minds right now seems to be the absence of Donald Butler, who will miss the entire season with an injury to his Achilles tendon. It’s a shame. I was really looking forward to seeing our third round pick tear it up on special teams at the very least. Hopefully Antwan Applewhite can stay healthy for the whole season and put up some good numbers.

The bolts will have their hands full in their first pre-season game. Hopefully Tyronne Green, Brandyn Dombrowski, and Tra Thomas (at left tackle) can keep Julius Peppers off of Philip Rivers and Ryan Mathews. If anybody can make the team miss Marcus McNeill, it would be Peppers, who also plays the left side very well so we will probably see him at both defensive end positions. Our offensive line is going to have their hands full in this game.

Everyone should also pay close attention to tonight’s game, as we will be playing the Cowboys in week two of the pre-season and the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints the following game. This pre-season will really show us what we are made of, so don’t blink or you might miss something.