More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

3 months ago: San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, top, walks past teammates during NFL football training camp held in San Diego, Friday, July 31, 2009. AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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How anxious are you to get started?
I'm very anxious.  To be away from the game as long as I was....that anxiousness is just building up. 

Are you looking forward to playing under Coach Rivera and in his scheme?
Yeah.  I'm just happy to be back, but especially in a system where we like to attack.  That's kindof the theme of our team and our defense this year. 

Do you have any specific goals in mind for yourself this year or just team goals?
It's all team goals.  I know how I'm going to do as an individual, but the goals I set this year are more related to the team's success.

I've been talking with Chargers fans all day on Twitter and somebody told me to ask you if your TwitterBerry has gone "lights out".
(laughs) My TwitterBerry is definitely "lights out" right now.  It sends when it wants to and then other times it doesn't work.  Then it works, then it doesn't work.  These last two days is like the longest time I've not Tweeted. 

You gotta get an iPhone.
I don't know, man.  I don't know if it's the phone or what, but it's like....whew, I gotta get something done.

What's your favorite tattoo that you have and why?
My "Lights Out" tattoo, because that's what I got my name from and that's part of me. 

Do you have any thoughts about Bolts From The Blue?  Any tips you want to send our way?  Whenever you have something to say, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

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How does the pass-rush feel this year as opposed to last year?  Does it feel better?
It always feels better when you have two guys like Merriman and English in there, being added into the mix.  And the secondary looks that much better as well.  I would say it's looking good so far, but the real test will be once the games start.

Are you looking forward to handling a little bit more pass-coverage this year?
(laughs) No.  Why would I ever look forward to covering?  I'm a pass-rusher and that's what I do best and the team's going to continue to let me do that.  That's what I do, pass rush.

I only ask because you're very skilled at coverage.
Thank you very much.

You're a Philly native, right?
Yes sir.

Best Cheesesteak: Geno's, Jim's or Pat's?
Uhhh....Jim's.  Actually, to be honest, it's Ishkabibble's which is right across the street from Jim's.  After Ishkabibble's I would have to say Jim's, out of those three.

Ishkabibble's?
Yup.  It's right across the street from Jim's, caddy-corner from Jim's, and it's this small spot and it's amazing.

It's better than Jim's?
I think so. 

Alright, I'm from Philly so I'm going to have to check that out.
There's a spot here that's as good as at home.

Where?
It's on the 78 off of Rancho Sante Fe.  It's called Philly Frank's and it's amazing.  AMAZING.  I'm talking about really good.  They're from Philly, and they ship everything out.  They have water ice....actually, the water ice is just okay, but the cheesesteaks and chicken cheesesteaks are great.

I know that you haven't had a lot of time to practice with Larry English, but I had heard that Coach Rivera was working on a new formation where English and Merriman would be coming off the edge and you were going to be roaming around, trying to get in wherever there was a weakness.  Have you had any time to work on that formation?  Do you think it's going to be a big part of the defense?
I don't know.  We're looking at some type of three-headed monster, kindof like back when we had me, Shawne and (Steve) Foley.  We're looking for that same type of attitude and that same type of intensity.  Whether all three of us are on the field, one of us is on the field, or two of us, I'm pretty sure we're going to be productive and we're going to be successful.  Opposing teams should beware because we're gonna get a one-on-one and there's going to be a mismatch somewhere.

Do you have any thoughts about Bolts From The Blue?  Any tips you want to send our way?  Whenever you have something to say, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

3 months ago: San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick leaves the field following practice at NFL training camp, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

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How do you feel?
I feel great.  I feel healthy, ready to rock

How do you think Training Camp is going?  Any better than usual?
It's good.  Intensity's up.  Guys are focused.  There's a good drive.  Even when the soreness kicks in, guys are working hard.

Have you noticed anyone hitting that Training Camp wall yet?
You work through the wall.  There will be a couple of walls.

What's your favorite tattoo and why?
I like them both, I can't pick a favorite.  My favorite is yet to come.

What's your favorite going to be?
I don't know.

Do you have anything else?  Or is it just the arms?
It's just the arms.  My wife said "Either you're done or I'm done."  So I had to choose.

What do you think is different about your approach now as opposed to a year or two ago?  Do you think your technique has gotten better?  Sharper?  Have you picked up something new from anyone else that you think has benefited you?
I'm always looking around the league trying to find subtle techniques.  I look at Olin Kreutz, and Kevin Mawae is always pulling out new tricks.  I think I steal techniques just like you would at any other job.  I'm definitely improving.  It's all about understanding of the game and what works and what doesn't work and just refining.  A lot of it is muscle-memory, just getting the muscles to fire the same way they have been.

Do you have one guy that you idolized in high school and college, a Center, and said "I want to be him"?
I didn't play until my second year of college and I wasn't a Center until my last year. 

What did you play before that?
I was a Guard for one year before moving to Center, but I walked-on so I didn't have a lot of offensive line play.  But coming into the league, I always watched film on Kevin Mawae.  He was right in his prime then and he's a smaller guy, quick, plays with good leverage and keeps guys off balance.  So I picked up good tricks from him.

Do you have any thoughts about Bolts From The Blue?  Any tips you want to send our way?  Whenever you have something to say, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

First, a story.  Brian, who many of you know as DaBolts, is a writer here at BFTB and was the "Head Writer" until I took over.  I only took over because he no longer had the time to do it.  It had nothing to do with talent, because the man is far better than me at everything he's done here at this blog/community.  He's also a gentleman and a scholar.

So, being gentlemanly, Brian asked if it would be okay if he could contact the Football Outsiders guys about getting a free book (he would then review it here and they'd get some marketing out of it).  I told him it'd be fine.  As much as I've always admired what their website puts out and what they can get their crazy computers to predict for Pro Football Prospectus, I've never been able to understand all of it.  It's a subculture of a subculture.  Brian, however, gets it.  There's the scholarly part of our departed-leader-turned-BFTB-columnist.

Apparently, his idea was one that FO guys liked.  Actually, LOVED.  Next thing I knew, I was getting e-mails from SB Nation saying that the FO guys were going to be sending a copy of their book to ever SB Nation NFL blog and answering team-specific questions.  Hot damn! 

So after reading the section about the Chargers....I still don't really get it.  Well, I mean, I get it.  They're predicting the Chargers to be good.  Great, actually.  Their computers think that the Chargers are going to be better than the 16-0 Patriots.  I'll take that.  Their computers predict 12.5 wins for the Chargers and give them an 87% chance of winning 11 or more games.

Their computers also are under the assumption that healthy players stay healthy (I believe), and everybody knows that San Diego has the league's most talented team when healthy.  With Merriman back and Tomlinson, Gates and Cromartie staying injury-free, I have a hard time saying that the Chargers won't find great success.  Anyways, the Football Outsiders Almanac does a fantastic job of predicting (their track record is unbelievable), but makes sure they back up everything with reasoning and past examples.  If you're into football stats at all, it's a must-buy.

The questions were written up by Brian, since he had less of a chance of embarrassing himself around the super-human brains of Football Outsiders.  The answers are written by Aaron Schatz, the Editor-In-Chief of Football Outsiders and the person responsible for writing the essay in the San Diego Chargers section of this year's FOA.

1.  In the section on the Chargers I was surprised you didn't take note of the rather dramatic difference between the first and second half performance.  The DVOA for both the defense and offense were substantially lower.  Do you attribute this to coaching, or do you think it is just statistical noise?

What dramatic difference? I'm not sure what week cutoff you are using to determine the change in DVOA -- or perhaps this is something that existed in the old version of DVOA but not the newer version that we use in the book. San Diego's offense in 2008 had 24.8% DVOA in Weeks 1-9 and 23.4% DVOA in Weeks 10-17, virtually the same. The defense has 9.9% DVOA in Weeks 1-9 and 6.6% DVOA in Weeks 10-17, slightly better, but not really by much.

Absolutely. First of all, a lot of the statistical trends that we consider exist precisely because talent tends to move around in the offseason in particular ways. Young teams get older and more experienced. Bad teams get rid of their worst players, which makes them better. Teams that are awful on third down tend to specifically go out and look for players who will help them improve on third down, which is one of the reasons for the "third down rebound" effect. In addition, the team projection system includes a number of variables related to player movement. This year for the first time, the team projections include a "no team variables" quarterback projection that helps us measure the impact of a team improving its quarterback situation. This is one of the reasons why Chicago's projection is higher and Denver's projection is lower. We have variables that consider top players switching teams, particularly top pass rushers -- and this "add a top pass rusher" variable (a.k.a. Merriman returning) is one of the reasons the Chargers are projected to improve on defense. We have variables that consider the specific draft value on different positions, both in the most recent draft and in previous drafts (this represents the importance of talent maturing in certain positions after two or three years). And there are variables that consider offensive line continuity -- that's one of the big reasons the Buffalo projection is so bad.

Two notes here:

1) We should point out that team DVOA is not the average of run DVOA and pass DVOA. It includes all plays equally, so if a team is very good passing because they rarely do it, their team DVOA will still be low because the majority of plays will be (poor) runs.

2) We may play around with adjusting things more in the future, but for the most part the way we deal with this problem is common sense. We try to analyze and interpret our stats, rather than just assuming that any team that is better in stat X is automatically more talented when it comes to play type X. As we often say, our stats are better than the conventional NFL stats, but they aren't perfect, and they aren't meant to replace our own knowledge of how player talents and schemes interact on the field. That's why the chapters in the book have essays, not just tables of numbers.

Well, we've got two different groups of statistics here.

First, you have your standard NFL play-by-play statistics. These are recorded by a group of official scorers at each game. The standard offensive stats have pretty much no bias. The defensive stats are "unofficial" and may be a little bit biased, but that's less because the scorers want to benefit their own home team and more because the definitions can be subjective -- who gets the tackle in a pile, for example, or what counts as a pass defensed. The official scorers have gotten better about this over the past couple years, thanks to the efforts of Chris Hoeltge at the league office, who has tried to get things better standardized. In particular, the Philly people aren't putting in a pass defensed any time the pass goes 10 yards over a DB's head, which is a plus. The "QB hit" stats are still registered somewhat willy-nilly from stadium to stadium, but the FO game charting project has actually helped that by reporting mistaken hits or missed hits, which are then changed in the official gameboks.

Second, you have the stats we keep at FO through the volunteers in the FO game charting project. That's the stuff like formations, pass rushers and blockers on each play, when there's play-action, who's the defender in coverage, and so forth. There's no question this stuff is biased. Every year, we work to help standardize definitions so that there's less variation between our game charters about what counts as what. No team is entirely charted by any one person, so things tend to even out -- for example, if the Chargers have a few halves charted by somebody who doesn't mark enough quarterback hurries, they probably also have a few halves charted by somebody who marks quarterback hurries a little too often. After the season's over, before we count things, I go through and try to make sure that no team has its stats particularly skewed by one charter who is extreme in the way he marks certain events.

Do you have any thoughts about Bolts From The Blue?  Any tips you want to send our way?  Whenever you have something to say, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

Give us a little background on yourself.  How did you end up in San Diego, covering the Chargers?
I grew up here, left for college and then spent five years in Los Angeles. I covered the Dodgers and then the Angels and then came home 10 years ago to write sports features for the U-T. After a while, I missed being on a beat, and SDSU football became available. I covered two of Tom Craft's seasons and then took over the Chargers beat when Jim Trotter (the best there ever was) wanted out after the '04 season.

How did you end up blogging and Tweeting for the Union Tribune?
It was a necessary transition. I think we all know the struggles and challenges of the newspaper business. My kids don't read the paper. (I don't even think my friend Jenny Cavnar, who just turned 27, reads the paper. I mean, she reads every word I write, but she reads it on SignOn.) Whatever info my kids are getting, they're getting on the Internet.

As someone who works for a newspaper, but maintains a blog, a Twitter account and produces daily video updates on the Chargers, where do you come down on the Old Media vs. New Media debate?
I don't think there is a debate. Not for me anyway. I've embraced the new media. Had to. I decided a couple years ago that I needed to diversify -- for my sake as well as for the paper's. Y'know, 15 years ago, the U-T had virtually no competition in San Diego. We're still the dominant news source. But we have to keep changing. And, frankly, we need to do it better and faster. That's why I do my segments on Channel 4 and XX, and why I spend a huge portion of my time on the Internet stuff (blogs, mailbag, videos, Twitter). It's a real challenge sometimes to balance the interests of the paper and SignOn, but it's absolutely a requirement. My responsibilities as Chargers beat writer only slightly resemble what Trotter's job was, or even what my job was three years ago. Heck, two years ago. Every year, more is required, and every year I try to do it all a little better.

Do you think independent sports blogs are a good thing (providing a voice for the fans, creating a new environment for discussion, etc.) or a bad thing (not necessarily adhering to the unwritten rules of journalism, less accountability, etc.)?
Well, I'd be lying I didn't say that everyone and their brother having a voice bugs me sometimes. But make no mistake: I think independent blogs are GREAT. I also think forums have their place. The passion fans have sort of keeps me in business, right? I do really hope people understand the difference between what I do and what a blogger (or forum participant) do. I have to adhere to a certain set of rules and remain factual. It makes me laugh sometimes when people refer to something I write as "a rumor" or they question my sources. I could be fired for doing something unethical.

Do you think NFL players should be allowed to have Twitter accounts and put whatever they want on it?
Absolutely. I do worry some of them won't understand the ramifications of something they might write until it's too late. Haven't we all sent an e-mail or text we wish we hadn't? Well, Twitter is a text to (potentially) the entire world. I also understand why teams (coaches) are scared of Twitter.

Hypothetical Situation: Instead of saying it on Twitter, Antonio Cromartie voices to you his displeasure over the food the team provides.  He even says "You can print that."  What do you do?  Who do you talk to about it?  If you print it, do you think he gets fined and do you think other NFL players talk about it?
Funny you ask. Last year, I quoted Nick Hardwick saying the food stunk. He didn't get fined. In fact, they upgraded. If he had been fined, yes, players would have talked about it -- though probably not as much as they did with Cro. His situation was the perfect storm of the NFL being all jumpy about twitter and his being made an example.

Lightning Round (predictions):

Gartrell Johnson - over/under 80 carries in 2009? Not a chance.
Vincent Jackson - A Charger in 2010? Yes.
Jeromey Clary - Chargers starting RT in 2010? Yes.
Rod Chudzinski - Does he take over play-calling and/or offensive game-planning in 2009? No way.

Do you have any thoughts about Bolts From The Blue?  Any tips you want to send our way?  Whenever you have something to say, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

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A little background here.  First, it's really hard to pick up which linemen (offense or defense) are doing well at these training camp practices.  They're not going all out, so they're usually just trying to hold their ground instead of trying to kill the guy on the opposite side of the ball.  You'll notice that, besides sheer size, my notes from training camp included nothing about lineman play.

With that being said, I couldn't have came away from camp more impressed by Luis Castillo.  He's as big as just about anyone on the team, but very athletic.  You can tell by seeing him walk around that his days of playing soccer have made him very agile and light on his feet.  You can tell from the way he smashes into the "dummy" (I don't know what else to call it, the blue things with padding that all of the D-linemen hit in practice) that, when healthy, his strength is awesome.

As always with Luis, it comes down to health.  If he can stay healthy, he's one of the best 3-4 DEs in the league.  A prototype 3-4 DE, if you will.  However, healthy has always been a major factor in his career.  And that topic is what my questions were centered around.

How do you intend on trying to stay healthy this year?
There's nothing you can do except the same thing you always do.  Let me tell you what I mean by that.  We go out every offseason with the same approach.  You go out there, you work hard, you prepare your body in every way you can, you train as hard as you can.  You try to hit as many different body parts, make sure everything is ready to go, make sure everything gets work so that when it gets to the season it's nothing new.  But it's a physical game, and it's not a contact game it's a collision game, and things happen.  You get caught in the pile, your ankle gets caught up, your knee gets caught up and all you can do is pray for the best and hope you have a blessed season.

You played a little nicked up last year, right?
It's been a rough couple of years.  I had the big ankle injury my second season, and missed I think seven games.  Had the same thing happen the next year, had surgery, missed seven more.  Was able to play all but one game last year, but it's the same things.  You're battling, you're always battling.  Nobody is out here healthy, you just hope to be as healthy as you can be.

At your position, what does playing nicked up do to you?  Does it make you slower?  Take away some of your strength?  I know it depends on the injury, but what's one thing that you feel you can't do if you're playing hurt?
Like you said, it depends on the injury.  It's an interesting dynamic.  I know, for fans, they see a guy on an injury report or they see a guy miss a few weeks and they love it when the guy is back, but you know you also got to realize that the guy is out there most likely, especially if he's missed a few weeks, most likely the injury would've taken another four, five, six weeks to recover but the guy is pushing it.  When a guy goes out on that field he's battling pain, he's battling the psyche of trying to deal with this limitation, but you go out there and you fight and you fight and you fight.  As far as the physical things that are lacking, it depends on the injury.  It really does.  I think for the most part, for this team and myself individually, when you're on that field, regardless of the injury, you make sure you have the same level of accountability you would on any other play.

Do you have any thoughts about Bolts From The Blue?  Any tips you want to send our way?  Whenever you have something to say, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

3 months ago: San Diego Chargers wide receivers Kassim Osgood, left, and Vincent Jackson, right, talk during NFL football training camp held in San Diego, Friday, July 31, 2009. Osgood was sporting a new hair color for the camp. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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A couple of notes before we get started on these.  First, the interviews are going to be short.  Both times that I was allowed in the locker room were while the players were getting ready to leave to go eat.  If I stayed too long with one player, I'd turn around and the locker room would be empty.  I tried to get in the questions I had an interest in hearing answers to and then get out, although there were a few questions that I wishes I had asked but didn't.

Second, I was a dick to Kassim.  Not his fault, I was just nervous.  He was my first face-to-face player interview and I asked the question about him playing Safety in a really rude way (by that I mean I had a mocking tone).  Later on in the day I wanted to apologize to him, but he was sitting in the ice tub and seemed busy with whatever he was reading (yeah, you can read that as "I chickened out").

Third, Kassim's hair looks good and his shirts were awesome.  Apparently a neighbor of his makes shirts for him.  I wish I remembered the name so I could rep the guy's company...and buy a couple of shirts.  Okay, on with the interview.

There's been a change in the rules for special teams.  Do you think it will effect you at all?
Me?  No, not at all.  It helps me.

Why?
Less people to go around in the wedge.  I can get to the ball-carrier faster.

Do you really think you can play Safety in the NFL?
Yeah, I can play Safety!  I played in college a little bit.  I like contact.

You want to be a Wide Receiver though, right?
Definitely. 

You've been having a pretty good camp so far.
I've been trying to. With every ball that's thrown my way, I gotta make every opportunity count.  I'm trying to let them know that if they need me at receiver, I'm a viable option.

If the team tells you that you're going to be a special teamer again this year and they'll look at you for WR again next year, are you going to be OK with that?
Oh, well I'm up next year.  So right now I'm just focused on trying to get that Super Bowl ring.

Do you have any thoughts about Bolts From The Blue?  Any tips you want to send our way?  Whenever you have something to say, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

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This one has been in the works for a while.  It was delayed at least 3 times, sometimes due to my schedule and sometime due to Louis'.  At one point my wife joked that I was ducking Louis, who is 9 inches taller and at least 130 lbs heavier than me.  I wasn't ducking him, but that doesn't mean I wasn't nervous about possibly pissing him off during the course of the interview.

Louis' agent puts those fears to rest when we scheduled an interview for last week.  I made some joke about not wanting to anger Vasquez because "he could kill me accidentally in his sleep" and the thought of what he could do while awake was enough to make me shake.  It was just a joke, but the agent's response was telling.  He laughed and then said "The pictures you've seen and what's been written about Louis up until this point is the opposite of who he is.  When he's not on the field, Louis is one of the nicest people to talk to.  He truly is a gentle giant."

During my phone call with him I found him to be exactly that.  Louis is everything you could want in a rookie offensive lineman.  He's big and strong, but all he really cares about in terms of football is winning the game.  He's got personality, but he definitely seems like he'd prefer a BBQ in his backyard with his family over a night of clubbing.  He'll do just fine in the NFL.  My interview with him is after the jump.

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