Derwin James, Chargers fans return to SoFi Stadium for concert festival

INGLEWOOD — Chargers safety Derwin James took a second to soak in the atmosphere when he dug his cleats on the SoFi Stadium field while The Offspring performed above his head on the oculus video board.

James wasn’t on the field in uniform and fans weren’t in the stands last year for the Chargers’ inaugural season at the 70,000-seat venue.

That changed Sunday when an estimated 35,000 fans scattered from inside the stadium to outside in the plaza where rock bands performed before the Chargers’ fan-fest scrimmage.

“It felt good going through warm ups, just getting my cleats on the ground for the first time because everybody knows I didn’t get to make it to the stadium last year,” James said.

James missed all of the 2020 season because of a knee injury in training camp and missed the first 12 games the prior season because of a foot injury in training camp.

With two major injuries, some wondered if James would still be the same player from his memorable All-Pro rookie season in 2018. That doubt has been silenced this summer with James making dynamic plays in camp, including an athletic interception grab against quarterback Justin Herbert while covering running back Austin Ekeler.

Herbert didn’t count the interception because he was touched by defenders before releasing the ball, but he’s glad to see James making plays for his defense.

“He makes us better,” Herbert said about James. “I think that’s the biggest thing and he’s a competitor. He’s smart, crazy athletic and he makes plays and to have him out on that side of the ball, it makes it tough on us. But at the same time, we get to learn from him.”

Chargers coach Brandon Staley plans on utilizing James as a positionless player with many roles on the field, including being the play caller of the defense. James said he’s comfortable relaying the plays that Staley sends to his helmet.

“With the fans out here, we had more energy,” James said. “We had our uniforms on and it kind of felt game-like, but we’re still recovering and have things to work on.”

That’s it. No more Modelos for me. I need abs like Derwin James #Chargers pic.twitter.com/Z6mHhhRnnq

— Gilbert Manzano (@GManzano24) August 8, 2021

MURRAY, LINSLEY SIDELINED

The buzz from the Chargers playing at SoFi Stadium was subdued when linebacker Kenneth Murray fell out of bounds in pain.

Murray, last year’s first-round pick, held his right ankle while the medical staff attended to him. Murray had his ankle taped and walked around the sideline, but eventually sat on the bench and ended his practice early.

Minutes later, center Corey Linsley exited the field with his left cleat untied and didn’t return to the scrimmage. Staley said Linsley is dealing with a foot issue.

Staley said both starting players were pulled for precautionary reasons and added that it would have been a different story if it were a real game.

“We’re just making sure that we’re careful,” Staley said about Murray and Linsley.

Rookie linebacker Nick Niemann received an increase in snaps with Murray sidelined and got to defend against Herbert and his offense.

Scott Quessenberry was Herbert’s center after Linsley left the field.

ROUGH SCRIMMAGE FOR KICKERS

The three Chargers kickers competing for the position had a rough outing Sunday.

Michael Badgley was booed by Chargers fans after going 4 of 7 on a series of field-goal attempts. Badgley recovered by returning to make his final two field goals, including a 55-yarder.

Tristan Vizcaino followed Badgley and went 4 of 6 on his first field-goal attempts. He made a 55-yard field goal for his longest kick of the scrimmage.

Undrafted rookie kicker Alex Kessman went third and made 3 of 7 field-goal attempts. His longest made kick was 49 yards.

Staley said the kicker competition was even and it didn’t matter that Badgley went first for his field-goal attempts. He plans on switching the rotation throughout camp and preseason games.

“Badgley earned the right to go out there today because he’s been in the NFL longer,” Staley said. “Tristan is brand new to us. So we wanted to give Mike that first crack in a live environment. But as we change through the preseason, that order is going to change.”