If it was up to Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James
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The Chargers decided to be cautious with their first-round draft pick as he recovered from a minor hamstring strain and delayed James’ first workout in pads.
”I feel like I was ready Monday, but you know it’s an ongoing process.” James said. ”You never know with those soft tissue injuries, so I know they got my back. They only want what’s best.”
James sustained the injury one week prior to the start of training camp while working out on his own, but there was no hint the former Florida State standout was limited in any way. During a position drill, James even joined his fellow defensive backs in an impromptu dance party.
In the team period, James was smooth and explosive in limited repetitions to earn praise from head coach Anthony Lynn.
”He looks good,” Lynn said. ”He looks good in his uniform. I mean, he’s a good-looking safety, but it’s just good to see him back out there because he had such a good offseason.”
The decision to be cautious with James was understandable after cornerback Jason Verrett sustained a torn Achilles tendon during a conditioning test last week before the start of training camp. Trevor Williams, a possible replacement for Verrett, sustained an ankle injury on Tuesday
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James acknowledged some frustration at missing the start of his first training camp, but recognized why the Chargers would not want to risk having the injury linger into the regular season. Instead, he is focused on making the most of his time going forward.
”They know what I can do,” James said. ”They drafted me in the first round for a reason. Just really come out here and become a master of my craft, learn my movements and be where I’m supposed to be on the field.”
With James on the field, the Chargers can start to figure out their safety pairings in earnest. Tre Boston started 15 games last season, but was not re-signed in free agency. James was drafted No. 17 overall to fill that vacancy and play next to incumbent Jahleel Addae.
James is learning how to play as both a free safety and a strong safety right now, but Addae said differentiating between the two positions can be overblown in coordinator Gus Bradley’s 4-3 defense.
”Coach always says it best,” Addae said. ”We don’t have no strong safety, we don’t have no free safety. We just have safeties. All of us are interchangeable.”
James credited Addae and the other Chargers defensive backs with helping him adjust quickly to the NFL.
”I sit right behind him in the meeting room and I try to pick his brain, and he don’t mind helping me
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Still, James compared the learning process to feeding a baby.
”They give me a little spoonful, and then I got to wait a little bit, and they give me some more,” James said.
NOTES: The Chargers signed receiver Marcus Peterson and cornerback Channing Stribling on Thursday after placing Verrett and tight end Austin Roberts (torn ACL) on injured reserve.
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Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler expressed little concern about his one-game suspension, his shoulder injury or his future with the franchise.
The 23-year-old Fowler was equally nonchalant about the progress he seemingly made in the past year.
"Did I go to jail?" he said following the team's first training camp practice Thursday. "There we go."
Fowler spoke publicly for the first time since the NFL suspended him without pay for the season opener at the New York Giants, a one-game penalty for attacking a man in a parking lot near his hometown in July 2017.
Fowler eventually pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery, criminal mischief and petty theft. The case was closed in March, with Fowler sentenced to a year of probation and 75 hours of community service.
The NFL handed down its punishment last week.
"We really already knew it was going to happen
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The suspension will cost him $214,000.
Missing additional games could cost him even more.
The Jaguars declined to exercise the fifth-year option in Fowler's rookie contract in May, likely meaning the third overall pick in the 2015 draft will become a free agent after this season.
A career year could mean a lucrative deal elsewhere.
"Go out there and play as best as I can every Sunday," he said. "That's it."
Fowler has 53 tackles and 12 sacks in two seasons. He missed his rookie year after tearing a ligament in his left knee during the first day of a rookie minicamp.
He played in every game since his return, but mostly as a backup to Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue. The Jags apparently don't view Fowler in the team's long-term plans, which is why they declined to pay him $14.2 million in 2019.
His off-filed troubles are partly to blame.
The former Florida standout was arrested last year after confronting a 55-year-old man who made a comment about his driving. St. Petersburg police said Fowler exchanged words with the man before hitting him and knocking off his glasses. Fowler then stepped on the glasses before taking the man's grocery bag and tossing it in a lake.
Fowler also was arrested in Miami Beach in March 2016 and charged with misdemeanor counts of assault against a police officer and resisting arrest without violence. The charges were later dropped. That arrest came a little more than two weeks after a video surfaced showing Fowler refereeing a violent fight between his girlfriend and an ex-girlfriend. He also has a long list of traffic violations.
"It is something where you have to go out every day and you have to prove (yourself) until you get to a level of consistency where there is trust," coach Doug Marrone said. "I think it is a matter of doing the right things each and every day, and we will see how it goes."
Fowler's health is his biggest concern these days.
He injured his left shoulder late last season and opened camp on the physically unable to perform list. Incapable of lifting weights for part of the offseason
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"Well, I'm actually big," he said with a smile. "I honestly think it won't matter. It doesn't matter. Weight does not matter with this one. I'm a straight dog. It don't matter. Once I put on them pads, it's a wrap. I'm just getting stronger. Coaches are looking out for me and being concerned and looking out for my health, so all I can do is just get stronger and you guys will know when I'm out there again."
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