They received blue pin-striped, short-sleeved work shirts complete with embroidered name tags. Navy workman jackets appeared in the lockers of Chargers players. They added heavy duty work boots. To complete the Chargers’ blue-collar mentality, black lunch pails were recently dropped at every locker.
“Stalwart” was printed in bold white letters on the domed lid, a reminder of coach Jim Harbaugh’s message as the Chargers (8-5) push toward the playoffs.
“The culture that he’s trying to build around here,” edge rusher Joey Bosa said, “that we’re hard workers, that we come to work every single day, and it’s not always pretty.”
Coming off a disappointing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chargers’ fortitude will be tested as they try to rebound against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday (1:25 p.m. PST) at SoFi Stadium.
The Buccaneers (7-6) have won three consecutive games to take control of the NFC South, combining the offense that has been among the NFL’s most explosive units all season with a defense that has allowed an average of 14.3 points in the last three games.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield leads the offense with 28 passing touchdowns, which is tied for the most in the NFC, but has had 13 passes intercepted.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has protected the ball at a historic rate — his 11 consecutive games without an interception is tied with Tom Brady for the longest single-season streak in NFL history — but is battling another ankle injury.
The star quarterback suffered a left ankle sprain against the Kansas City Chiefs last week and missed a day of practice this week, but is likely to play Sunday as he noted the latest injury felt less painful than the high-ankle sprain he played through earlier this season.
