Bolt-Load of Links: 8/13 Chargers Links

• Prepping for Bears | SignOnSanDiego.com
  Norv Turner said whether some players who sat out Thursday play Saturday will depend on who the player is, how much work he needs and whether they really need to see him.
• Five Questions With: Bolts From the Blue | Windy City Gridiron
  We'll have our official Game Preview later this afternoon, but in the meantime, let's have a quick Q/A session with Bolts From the Blue, SBN's San Diego Chargers website. Big thanks to John Gennaro for taking the time to answer our questions!
• Turner outlines playing time plan | Chargers.com
  More than a week of training camp remains, but San Diego paused long enough Thursday to ready for game situations. Head Coach Norv Turner expects some starters to play into the second quarter in saturday's preseason opener.
• Ron Rivera concerned about Mike Martz | ESPN Chicago
  San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera has been studying Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
• Trolley service in game mode for Chargers exhibition Saturday | SignOnSanDiego.com
  We’ve had football season weather all summer and now on Saturday we get real football as the San Diego Chargers take on the Chicago Bears in their exhibition opener at Qualcomm. Hand in hand with the expected crush of fans, the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) is ramping up Trolley service to the Q.
• Vincent Jackson Reportedly 'Not a Part of the Plan' With Chargers | NFL FanHouse
  As the San Diego Chargers prepare for another season of high expectations, they are missing two key components to their offense.
• No Jackson, no McNeill? With Rivers, no problem, say Chargers | NFL.com
  The Chargers have other talented receivers, including standout tight end Antonio Gates, but the question of how much they'll miss Jackson figures to linger. That is, at least until a quarterback named Philip Rivers -- a.k.a. the main reason to believe the Chargers still have a good chance of winning a fifth consecutive AFC West championship -- begins firing passes in games that count.
• Chargers Team Report – 08/12/10 | BoltTalk
  The Chargers’ pass-catching unit finally has a point guard.
• Thursday's training camp glance | North County Times
  Jay Paris with three observations from Thursday's workouts.
• Practice in Photos: August 12th | Chargers Blogs
  While it didn’t have the same edge as a regular season game week, the Chargers turned their attention toward the Bears during Thursday’s practice.
• Study will assess Qualcomm Stadium's long-term viability | SignOnSanDiego.com
  The city of San Diego plans to hire an outside contractor to assess the long-term viability of Qualcomm Stadium with or without the Chargers as its primary tenant. The evaluation might cost an estimated $150,000 to $200,000.

Plenty more good stuff, after the break

• Forecast: Lightning Strikes…And Other Stuff For 2010 Bolts | 619Sports
  I’m all-knowing, all-powerful…and all-too-often wrong. Nevertheless, the 2010 NFL season will soon be upon us, and you want to know what’s going to happen with your beloved San Diego Chargers.
• Hindsight 20-20 On Ryan Mathews Trade | BOLTHYPE
  The trade to acquire the 12th overall selection this past April seemed innocuous enough on the surface with a few draft picks changing hands including the Chargers' 28th and 40th choices, but the small piece of that deal overlooked by many was linebacker Tim Dobbins.
• Tight group embraces competition on Bolts D-line | SignOnSanDiego.com
  By necessity, the Chargers played defensive line by committee last year. Given the number of injuries and major nicks the Chargers tackles and ends endured, they were regularly rotating a half-dozen players into the fray. In the process, they all got extremely tight as a unit.
• Finesse image haunts Chargers | SignOnSanDiego.com
  The New York Jets came here in January and felt they could take advantage of a Chargers team that lacked tenacity.
• Fan Q&A: Eric Weddle | Chargers.com
  The fourth-year safety explains how the defense has improved, shares the hardest part of being a football player and names his favorite place to eat in San Diego.
• VIDEO: 1-on-1 with Eric Weddle | 619Sports
  Chargers safety Eric Weddle is poised to have a breakout season, anchoring a secondary which has seen a great deal of turnover (but not enough turnovers). As the Bolts prep for their preseason opener against Chicago on Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium, Weddle joined 619Sports.Net’s Craig Elsten on the Chargers Park practice field for a 1-on-1 interview.
• Denver Broncos Announce Signing Of RB Justin Fargas | Mile High Report
  The Broncos officially announce the signing of RB Justin Fargas
• Broncos TE Marquez Branson Carted Off Practice Field | Mile High Report
  Marquez Branson the latest Broncos player to go down with an injury
• Brandon Stokley fighting to make the Broncos | ProFootballTalk.com
  The Broncos don't really have a number one receiver. They've got roughly seven number three receivers, and that could be a problem for one of the most well known slot guys of the last decade.
• Stuckey's Pre-Game Ritual = Yawning? | NBC San Diego
  He sometimes finds himself yawning before a big game, but not because he’s bored.
• Saint's Ten Things From Last Night | Silver And Black Pride
  Silver and Black Pride break down and analyze the Raiders' pre-season win over the Cowboys.
• Chainsaw: How Roger Craig Changed Your World
  While composing my Pulitzer Prize-caliber column on Marv Levy earlier this week, it struck me that former San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig is responsible for Jim Carrey’s superstardom, the sitcom Friends, our national obsession with Jennifer Aniston’s fertility, the fate of Third World orphans, and one less Hall of Fame enshrinement in Canton, Ohio.
• Teams Featured On Hard Knocks Have Combined For Just One Playoff Win; Good Luck, Jets! | SBNation.com
  Exciting times in New Jersey, indeed ... except, well, there's one thing that might deflate some of the Jets fans' excitement over the 2010 season and Hard Knocks: since the show began in 2001, teams have combined for just one playoff win in the season in which they were featured.
• Want to freak out your foes? 'Ice' them | MSNBC.com
  Randy Dotinga writes: If you're a football fan, you've probably seen a team "ice" an opposing kicker in the final moments of a close game by taking a timeout at the last possible second.