Chargers Second Joint Practice With Rams Canceled

Valentina Martinez | Aug 12, 2024

Aug 10, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) during the pregame warmups at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports / Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Chargers joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams, scheduled for Wednesday, was canceled.

The Rams were previously scheduled to practice with the Chargers in El Segundo on Wednesday. This morning, they announced they will now be back up in Oxnard on Wednesday to practice a second time with the Cowboys.

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) August 12, 2024

On Monday, the Rams announced that the team would no longer be practicing at the Bolt later this week, but instead, will go to Oxnard for a second practice with the Dallas Cowboys.

According to ESPN's Sarah Barshop, the Rams made the change due to location. The team is currently not at their facility in Woodland Hills making a trip to The Bolt, in El Segundo, a three-hour round trip.

The Rams announced they'll hold a joint practice on Wednesday with the Cowboys instead of the Chargers as previously scheduled. They're making the change because they're not at their Woodland Hills facility yet and the trip to El Segundo would be around three hours round trip.

— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) August 12, 2024

Given the current quarterback situation and the lowly performance of the Chargers' offense on Saturday, the Rams likely also believed a joint practice with the Cowboys would be more beneficial.

The young Rams defensive unit gets to face the Cowboys' veteran quarterback Dak Prescott. Prior to Thursday's joint practice with Dallas, Rams veteran outside linebacker Michael Hoecht shared that facing Prescott and company would be a good challenge for the young lineman.

“It will be a good test for us against a guy who’s played a ton of football in the NFL and is a really good quarterback … who knows how to manipulate pockets and move guys off with his eyes,” Hoecht told Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “It’s going to be fun to see a bunch of young guys go against a top-tier quality quarterback like that.”

The Cowboys' offense will be short of their star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb who is currently holding out until Dallas grants him a new contract.

It's reasonable that the Rams wouldn't want to face a struggling Chargers offense to prepare for the upcoming season, but on the other side of the ball, the Bolts' defense is proving to be a high-caliber unit.

The Chargers defense has helped Bolts defensive coordinator Jesse Minter's vision for the unit come to life. The unit had a solid performance against the Seahawks.

Now that the practice has been canceled between the Los Angeles teams, the Rams will face a defensive unit that boasts elite Micah Parsons.

“When you get into real Sundays, you set your game plan around guys like him,” Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “It’s going to be good work for our guys and so we’ll see what guys are going to step up and do what they can against him.”

Following the offensive woes in the preseason opener, the Chargers should be set on signing another quarterback who could sufficiently play backup to Justin Herbert.