Chargers GM Tom Telesco Q&A: Is another run coming?

SAN DIEGO – As aspiring NFL front office executives eye open general manager jobs next month, there should be no better example of finding the right spot for taking that first job than Tom Telesco, who spent 15 years working in the personnel department for the Indianapolis Colts before he got his first general manager job with the San Diego Chargers last season.

Together, Telesco and head coach Mike McCoy – a first-year general manager hiring a first-time head coach – have quickly built the Chargers back into a playoff contender.

Yet despite the Chargers impressive run last year, when they won their final four games and upset Cincinnati in the first round of the playoffs, and a hot start this year, the Chargers still find themselves chasing the Denver Broncos in the AFC West.

With the Broncos coming to Qualcomm Stadium this week, the Chargers know they have a chance to spoil Denver's bid to clinch the division. Telesco sat down with Paste BN Sports on Thursday to talk about the state of the Chargers heading into the final three weeks of the season:

Q: Is this team ready to make another December run? Does the run you made last year, making the playoffs, help now?

Telesco: It does and it doesn't. It does because you can use it as an example to guys that weren't here last year. Hey, this is what happened. This is how we dealt with it and this is the result, but the reality of it is every year is unique and different. But at least it is tangible evidence to say, 'Hey look this is what happened and here's how we worked it.'

Q: I'm sure you realized when you first saw the schedule back in April that this stretch here, with Baltimore, New England and Denver, would be really important and could define your season. What did you learn in the first two games on this stretch, with a win at Baltimore and loss to New England?

Telesco: I think the biggest thing is we have a really resilient group of guys, and a lot of that comes from your leaders -- all the normal guys you would think of. And a resilient group is mentally tough. You have to have that. It is week to week, and if you have a bad series, a bad quarter and we have guys that can get that behind them, concentrate on the next play, the next quarter. When it gets tough, they don't bat an eye. That's what we've seen the last two years, really.

Q: Are you a better team now than you were this time last December, when you became a surprise playoff team?

Telesco: It's black and white -- how far can you go? I'll guess we see when this season is over how far we can take this. I felt good coming into this year, just with one year under your belt. It was a brand new offensive system last year, so when we're in camp this year, it's not so much installation and teaching, it is more working on the repetitions of it. That gets us ahead. Another year with the defense, even though John Pagano was a hold over. Naturally you should feel like you're getting better.

Q: With this week's game against the Broncos, do you feel like you're in a better position to beat them now than you were when you played them in Denver in October? In that game, you didn't have Ryan Mathews, Brandon Flowers among others.

Telesco: I hadn't even thought about that. I really hadn't. I guess we'll see. You can say next man up all you want, but usually the guys in front of them are pretty good players.

Q: With your current standings [at 8-5, two games behind Denver], is winning the AFC West still an attainable goal?

Telesco: That's still the first goal, because you know you're in the playoffs if you win your division. Until we're out of winning that, it's an attainable goal. That's what we kept saying last year -- OK, until someone tells us to go home, you're done, we're going to just keep playing. So that was the motto last year, and no one told us to go home until after that Denver playoff game.

Our guys are really mentally tough. I mean, there is so much on the outside to listen to, and you can't tune it all out. We say to tune it out, but for those guys, it's just impossible. They listen to everything. Our guys, I know they hear stuff but they always come back to Mike [McCoy's] all the time. They know exactly what he's asking. There is no gray area with Mike.

Q: How have you managed to survive the rash of injuries at center? It seems like most teams would have a difficult time overcoming something like that. When you drafted guard Chris Watt this year, I can't imagine there was any scenario in which you thought he might be your starting center in December.

Telesco: We have a really good pro personnel staff, and a coaching staff that can teach. I think that's the biggest things. You kind of anticipate moves down the line a little bit and our coaching staff has gotten guys ready to play, quickly and still have them play at a high level.

With Watt, we knew it was an option that maybe someday he could play center, but at that time, we had Nick Hardwick, so there wasn't really ever a thought of that. We had Nick, we had Rich Ohrnberger, who was a really good swing backup for us last year. With every team though, things change throughout the year.

Q:Was there ever a point though that you felt snake bit at that spot? That you're sitting in your suite and thinking "You've got to be kidding me"?

Telesco: Well, during the game you say things that you don't always mean all the time. But there is always a position on your team that every year just gets hit more than others and you have to make moves. I guarantee you the 31 other teams all have a spot.

Q: For a guy who we all externally talked about so much before the draft last year, Manti Te'o has had a fairly quiet couple of years. How would you gauge his development in your defense? How much have early injuries set him back?

Telesco: The two injuries, last year and this year, have slowed down his development a little bit. But I'll tell you what, when he's on the field, I mean, he's taking strides. It's just he's had two bumps in that road, but I've been really happy with him. On the field, off the field, he loves the game, he's mature about it. He's into it. Even when he's been hurt, he's engaged every day in practice. He'll be behind the defense with the call sheet, even if he knows I'm not going this week, says he's got a boot on his foot or something, he's engaged with every call, and that's really important for young players. So that way, when he was ready to go, we could slide him back in. Now, we've tried to, when we put him back in this year, we didn't throw him back in for 60 or 70 snaps. We're trying to gradually work him in. I think he still has more steps to take, but we've been happy with him.

Q: Was it nice to see him get his first interception then last week against New England? Was that game a good step for him?

Telesco: I think everyone saw him because he had that interception. But [Dwight] Freeney had a good rush and Brady had to under throw it, and Manti was there. Manti has really good pass game instincts. He had it at Notre Dame and he had, what, six picks his senior year. He just has good football instincts, but really good pass game instincts, which puts him in positions like that to make interceptions. He's around the football because he's got good instincts.

Q: Did you have any idea what you were getting in Eric Weddle when you arrived?

Telesco: No. [Smiles]. I knew he was good, but he is as tremendous athlete, No. 1. Did you ever hear that John Wooden quote where he says like, "If you're at a playground and you're choosing up sides." I'll take Eric Weddle first, and then alright, tell me what sport we're going to play. That's what he is. Basketball, football, baseball. Just a great athlete. I don't know if he's a good golfer, but he's probably a good golfer. Some of that you can see when you're an opponent playing him, but the work he puts in off the field off the field, it's just amazing. He puts in work like a quarterback does.

Q: Sometimes, you might not want as important a defensive player as he is on every special teams unit. But you can't keep him off the field, right?

Telesco: He's one of our best players. He can punt, he can throw, he can run.

Q: Would he have been the emergency, emergency punter then last week behind Nick Novak, after Mike Scifres got hurt?

Telesco: Yep, there's no doubt. If this was 60 years ago, he'd be playing both ways. He's such a good example for our young guys, cause they see, 'If Eric is our best defensive player, and he does that much work off the field, and I'm not as good as he is, I have to do as much as he does, or probably more." I love for our guys to see that.

Q: Ryan Mathews wasn't able to play much in the second half last week and his absence was noticeable. What does he mean to your offense and how important is having him on the field to running your offense how you want to run it?

Telesco: We're a different team with him on the field, we really are.

Q: The knock on him externally is that he can't stay healthy? Is he viewed as injury-prone internally? Is there anything you have to do, or can do, to keep him healthy?

Telesco: I don't look at him like that. I know for that position, and especially with the way that he runs, I mean to find a running back who can play four or five years, 16 games, that doesn't happen very often. It just doesn't. They're going to get banged up. And he's a physical runner.

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.