LOS ANGELES _ With the preseason finales approaching, teams and players all over the NFL this week are blatantly violating one of the longest-standing rules in sports:
They're taking it two games at a time.
So, while the Los Angeles Chargers are set to play Thursday night at San Francisco, running back Austin Ekeler was part of a group Tuesday that spent time going over blitz pickups for Week1 versus Indianapolis.
As is NFL tradition, most of the starters won't play in the final exhibitions, freeing them up to start preparing for the real thing.
Coach Anthony Lynn, however, explained that the spirit of Ekeler will be on the field at Levi's Stadium.
"What I'm looking for is Austin Ekeler," he said when asked about Thursday's game. "That's when he made this football team (two years ago). I'm looking for guys to step up, make plays like him and change our minds."
In late August of 2017, Ekeler was an undrafted, still largely unknown rookie out of Western State in Colorado. The Chargers also concluded that preseason on the road against the 49ers. Ekeler rushed eight times for 50 yards, caught three passes for 58 yards, and made two special teams tackles.
He has been a Charger ever since and, with Melvin Gordon holding out, enters this season as the team's top running back.
"I put all my chips on the table," Ekeler recalled. "I was just all-in on it. I played as well as I could have. After the game, 'That was it. Now let's see what the evaluation comes down to, and if it doesn't work out, I have a backup plan.'"
Ekeler had an internship and job offer lined up at Noble Energy in Greeley, Colo. He had studied energy management in college and already had his immediate future mapped out.
First, though, he told the company's recruiter that he one more thing he wanted to try.
"I told them, 'Look, I'm only going to be young one time,'" Ekeler said. "'I'm going to go play some football.'"
After making the Chargers as a rookie, he emerged over the last two seasons as an effective backfield complement to Gordon, Ekeler using his speed, shiftiness and small size to his advantage. The duo were among the most productive in the NFL over the first half of last year before Gordon suffered an injury in mid-October.
And none of this likely would have happened had Ekeler not stood out that Thursday night two years ago when so much of the league already was peeking ahead to Week1.
"It was just, 'Hey, this is the last shot that I know of that's guaranteed for me,'" Ekeler remembered. "I had studied enough. It was just, 'Let's relax. Let's take a deep breath, and let's go play.'"
Today, Ekeler is established and accomplished enough that the Chargers are readying to rely on him and second-year back Justin Jackson in the absence of Gordon.
A Pro Bowl selection in 2018, Gordon is scheduled to make $5.6 million in the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. He is seeking an extension in a so-far stalemated negotiation that could extend into the regular season.
"I'm ready whenever," Ekeler said. "I'm a football player. You have to be flexible. We've got a guy here. If he comes back, I'm not going to be the starter anymore. He's going to work his way back in."
Gordon isn't the only Chargers regular missing as their Sept.8 opener against the Colts nears. All-Pro safety Derwin James had foot surgery last week and is expected to miss three to four months. Left tackle Russell Okung remains out indefinitely after suffering a pulmonary embolism in June.
"Would we love to have those guys?" Ekeler said. "Absolutely. Is it going to have some impact? Absolutely. Those are Pro Bowlers we're talking about. You can't just replace Pro Bowlers. Let's be real.
"Players help, absolutely. But, at the end of the day, it comes down to a collective team making a move and deciding, 'We're going to do this together.' Everyone has to buy in to that for it to work.
"This is the NFL. Players are all over the place. It comes down to ... everybody buying into the scheme and each other and moving forward. I'm excited for this season."
