Expectations for San Diego Chargers LB Manti Te’o

San Diego Chargers LB Manti Te’o played all of last season with a foot injury and had to have surgery on the foot in order to repair the injury. He is going into this coming season with better health and with a better understanding of the league. He made mistakes on the field last season, but began to play better later in the year.

“Any time somebody has something wrong with them, it’s going to affect them to a certain degree,” Te’o said, acknowledging the foot issue slowed him down. “For me, I did everything that I could do. I did everything I was asked to do, and everything to the best of my ability. And now we’ll see in season two how I do now.” – ESPN

The expectations are going to be much higher in the second season. The injury excuse will be gone and it will be time for him to produce. He has something to prove.

“(I had) a lot of beginner’s mistakes,” Te’o said. “But the best thing about that is there’s a lot of room for improvement. I’m looking forward to this year, just getting together with my teammates again, and having a year under my belt on the field and with the playbook.” – ESPN

He has the tools and the instincts to make an impact for the defense. We will see what kind of work he has done in the offseason to prep for the coming season. We needed him to get stronger and we will want him to get more aggressive attacking the football. The defense needs to improve this year and it will start with the development of the talent that is already on the roster.