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You'll never believe the news coming out of Chargers Park today, a very slow news day indeed. Apparently, new Offensive Coordinator Ken Whisenhunt likes his new Quarterback Philip Rivers.
"Let me say this, from the standpoint of having been in this league for a long time and having seen good quarterbacks. This guy is up there, as far as his ability to process things, his ability to make all the throws that he needs to make and his ability to be a leader and rally these guys around him."
How Ken knows any of that after watching him closely for a few practices is beside the point. Ken Whisenhunt, who has had his choice of Kevin Kolb, Jake Skelton and Ryan Lindley last year, is excited to have a not-terrible QB to run his offense. That's good news.
"I think it's unfair to really say the QB was at fault," Whisenhunt said. "I know he had some interceptions, but he didn't get a lot of protection, he didn't get a lot of help and that was difficult. So, I'm excited, just on my time with him, in talking with him and meeting with and being on the field with him. He's a good quarterback, and I expect him to have a good year."
Ken kind of needs El Capitan to be on board if he's even going to be "Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt" ever again, so it makes sense that he's trying to show Philip the love this offseason.
"To me, Philip is a guy that can handle all those different facets," Whisenhunt said. "If it's checks, if it's getting us into the right plays, if it's executing the actual plays called, from a number of different platforms, he does a great job with that. That's what I've been most impressed about. So for him to be successful, he obviously has to operate the offense."
That seems like a whole bunch of gibberish. He can execute plays. He can make the right adjustments at the line, even though he never really made any adjustments at the line before in the NFL.
"To be successful, he obviously has to operate the offense" is something I'd expect to hear come out of an Offensive Coordinator's mouth while drunk at the team Christmas party and trying to nonchalantly continue the conversation so that nobody would notice that he's checking out the Head Coach's daughter on the other side of the room. It means nothing. I hate the offseason.
In Whisenhunt's mind, Rivers can make all the throws. He compared the quarterback's accuracy to that of Warner in his prime -- which is quite a compliment. In acknowledging Rivers' funky delivery, he called it "athletic."
Jeez. Nobody ever taught Ken that girls prefer the mysterious guy that doesn't follow them home and write love letters on their car windshields with lipstick, did they? Maybe they should've.