Safety Derwin James has not done more than walkthroughs at Chargers practices this summer as he’s staging a “hold-in” while looking for a contract extension, but the team isn’t showing any concern about his readiness for the regular season.
Head coach Brandon Staley spent time at Tuesday’s press conference rattling off a long list of things that James brings to the team’s defense in what sounded like a pretty good pitch for that extension. He also said that he doesn’t think James’ ability to do any of those things will be diminished by the lack of time he’s spent on the field this summer.
“I don’t worry about Derwin,” Staley said, via Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News. “Derwin has given us no reason to worry. It would be one thing if he wasn’t here, but we see him every day. He’s in the best shape of his life. This is the first time in a while he’s had a full offseason with nothing to prohibit him from training. He feels great, so that gives us a lot of confidence.”
Staley offered no hint of where things stand in contract negotiations, although sooner would be better when it comes to feeling confident that James will truly be as prepared as possible for the year to come.