The Los Angeles Chargers pulled away with a monstrous victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. While there was plenty of excitement surrounding the win, there was still one thing that was puzzling.
Prior to the matchup, linebacker Denzel Perryman and safety Roderic Teamer had been ruled out, and then that was followed up with first-round selection Jerry Tillery being among the eight inactives.
Following the game, coach Anthony Lynn didn’t provide too much information, saying that it was “coach’s decision” but did say he sent them home rather than having them stand on the sidelines in street clothes.
Today, the reason why they were sent home came out.
According to ESPN’s Eric D. Williams, Perryman and Teamer missed a morning meeting in Jacksonville, which led to Lynn sending them home on Saturday.
Perryman has been the team’s starting middle linebacker for the past few seasons, but rookie Drue Tranquill has slowly been taking over the role throughout the course of the year.
As for Tillery being an inactive, Lynn said it was for matchup purposes. He rolled with veteran Sylvester Williams in the game to help stop the Jaguars’ run game.
“I wanted to see Sylvester. Sometimes it’s a matchup deal and they were going to run the football. Leonard (Fournette) is having a breakout year. So I needed a bigger body in the middle of our defense, and that’s why Sylvester was up. But Jerry has done nothing wrong. He’s working his tail off, I like his development. It was just a matchup deal,” Lynn said.
Third-round pick Trey Pipkins was also another inactive that raised eyebrows. The team is happy with Pipkins’ production, but with Russell Okung and Sam Tevi back in the starting lineup, it’s more difficult to rotate them in and Trent Scott is currently the preferred backup.
