INGLEWOOD — Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams didn’t want to talk about it and running back Austin Ekeler preferred to look ahead, not back.
The Chargers have a revenge game Sunday against the New England Patriots at SoFi Stadium, but this isn’t your typical revenge situation, where a team is searching for payback because of a playoff loss or someone spoiled their postseason hopes.
Nothing good occurred during the Chargers’ 45-0 blowout loss against the Patriots at SoFi Stadium last year – unless you count 14 tackles from linebacker Kenneth Murray as a positive.
The Chargers hit rock bottom in the midst of a losing season during the embarrassing shutout at home, which was the largest margin of defeat in franchise history.
“Everything in that game was bad,” Williams said this week. “Everything was bad in that game. We don’t want to talk about it.”
Chargers cornerback Chris Harris Jr. didn’t want to hear the “new year, new team” narrative from his teammates. Harris can’t stand that a team he’s had many playoff battles against was able to beat him that decisively without Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.
“That’s something I’m definitely thinking about,” said Harris, who’s familiar with the Patriots from his nine seasons with the Denver Broncos. “That’s something I’m definitely reminding them (teammates) of. They kicked our ass last year. ‘Y’all remember that?’ Everybody knows. They killed us on special teams. They beat us really bad in all three phases. Everybody knows that, and we are aware of what happened last year. We have to try to stop them because they’re gonna try and do the same thing.”
When reporters informed Harris that his offensive teammates Williams and Ekeler didn’t want to discuss last year’s embarrassing loss, Harris responded with: “I’m letting them know.”
The Chargers’ dreadful special teams got most of the attention for last year’s debacle because Patriots wide receiver Gunner Olszewski scored on a 70-yard punt return and safety Devin McCourty had a 44-yard touchdown return on a blocked field-goal attempt.
And while Olszewski caught his first and only career touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, the Chargers’ star rookie quarterback Justin Herbert was sitting on the sideline with zero points in the fourth quarter.
It was Herbert’s worst performance of his young career, though the Chargers’ Oct. 17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens before the bye week isn’t too far behind. Herbert spent most of his bye week watching film of the 45-0 game and the 34-6 defeat to the Ravens.
“It’s always tough to go back and look at that game,” Herbert said about studying the Patriots game from last year. “There was a lot of good learning stuff from it. I think that we did a good job of, last year, learning from it, and continuing to develop from it. A lot of mistakes were made and there were a lot of things that we had to correct. As tough as it might be to watch, you have to go back and learn from it.”
The Chargers showed they learned from the loss to the Patriots by closing last season on a four-game winning streak and starting this season 4-2. They’re an improved team, but they find themselves in a similar situation this week, having to bounce back from their ugly performance against the Ravens in Week 6.
Not many quarterbacks played better than Herbert during the nine games between the losses to the Patriots and Ravens. The Chargers went 8-1 in that stretch from last year to this season. Herbert pushed the ball downfield and moved the chains on third downs with out-of-pocket throws.
But against the Ravens, Herbert struggled with accuracy and was unable to create plays out of the pocket. Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Herbert might have played it safe at times to avoid turnovers against the Ravens, but Lombardi expects Herbert to return to his creative ways.
“One thing about him, I really do trust his instincts in the pocket, knowing when to escape, when to throw the ball out, when to just protect it and, maybe, take the sack and avoid turnovers,” Lombardi said about Herbert. “Nothing there that I was critical of him for throwing the ball away or taking a sack in that (Ravens) game.”
Tight end Hunter Henry played a role in why Herbert won the Offensive Rookie of the Year last year. Henry was on the sideline with Herbert and the rest of the disappointed Chargers on Dec. 6 when the Patriots rolled through SoFi Stadium.
Henry, who played five seasons with the Chargers, is now helping Patriots quarterback Mac Jones find his footing during his rookie season. Henry and Jones have connected for a touchdown in four consecutive games.
“He was the first guy to reach out to me as soon as I got drafted,” Herbert said about playing with Henry during his rookie year. “We created that bond of lifting, throwing and doing all of these things. He helped me so much on the field and off of the field, as well. A great mentor, a great friend and one of those guys that I want to stay in touch with throughout his career.”
Harris likely doesn’t want to hear about friendships with players on the Patriots (3-4). He wants his teammates to be angry about what happened last year against a team that’s had their number for many years.
The Chargers have a six-game losing streak versus the Patriots, including the blowout loss in the 2019 divisional round of the playoffs. The last time the Chargers defeated the Patriots was in 2008 when Matt Cassel filled in for the injured Brady.
The Chargers have many reasons to be motivated for this matchup against Bill Belichick’s Patriots, even if some are ignoring the revenge aspect. After the ugly loss to the Ravens, the Chargers need a bounce-back game.
“We know what happened last year and we’re going to do everything possible not to let that happen again,” Williams said.