When tight end Virgil Green signed with the Chargers as a free agent this offseason, he was expected to be a complement to Hunter Henry in the lineup.
That expectation changed when Henry tore his ACL at a practice in May and left Green as the No. 1 player at the position. There’s been chatter about a possible Antonio Gates return, but nothing has materialized to this point and Green’s successful acclimation into the lineup will be important whether the veteran comes back for another year or not.
Green doesn’t sound too worried about finding his comfort zone in the offense or with quarterback Philip Rivers.
“It hasn’t been that tough just because a guy like Phil knows exactly what he wants,” Green said, via the team’s website. “The coaches are all on board with what Phil wants. When you have a place where everybody’s on the same page because they know exactly what the quarterback wants because he’s been doing it so long, it makes it easy to adjust.”
Whether it has been Gates or Henry, the tight end has been a major piece of the Chargers passing game with Rivers running the offense. Green was never in that kind of role with the Broncos -- he’s never caught more than 22 passes in a season -- but could see a major change if that’s what Rivers wants come the fall.