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COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay chooses to hold out most of his frontline players for the entire preseason to avoid the risk of injury. Running back Todd Gurley boasted that it's every player's dream not to play in the preseason. Well, crosstown rival Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn does not subscribe to that philosophy. Lynn said the starters for the Bolts will play for about a half on Saturday against the New Orleans Saints. The third preseason game traditionally is a dress rehearsal for the regular season. Even though the Chargers already scrimmaged two days against New Orleans this week -- getting plenty reps against the Drew Brees-led Saints -- Lynn said it's important to see the first group on the field Saturday. "We're still going to play our starters 30 plays -- a half," Lynn said. "We still want to do that, so it just happened to be the third game. "Usually when you practice against a team, you can pull them back a little bit, but we need to see those guys play a little bit because they won't play much the following week." Let's take a look at a question from this week's mailbag: @eric_d_williams: A year removed from right ACL knee surgery, Forrest Lamp participated in team drills for the first time this week against the New Orleans Saints in back-to-back joint practices. A second-round selection in last year's draft for the Chargers, Lamp played right guard with the second unit and appeared to hold up fine in his first action in pads. Penciled in start for the Chargers, Lamp still has some hurdles to clear in order to claim his starting spot. The first comes Saturday, when he will see his first game action in a Chargers' uniform. Lynn said he's looking forward to the Western Kentucky product's debut. "When he's back healthy, he's going to compete for a starting job," Lynn said. "We liked him in the starting lineup last year and we look forward to seeing him back in there again." For now, Michael Schofield remains the starter at right guard, and likely will remain there for the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, if he proves that he's healthy, Lamp could be on the active roster for the opener. "When he's ready to go, we're definitely going to get him in the rotation," Lynn said. "If he's not the starter, Forrest played tackle in college and played guard for us last year [before his injury]. "He's a versatile guy. We're definitely going to use him." For his part, Lamp said he wants to contribute however he can on game day. "That's my goal," he said. "That's everybody's goal whether you're drafted, a free agent or coming back from an injury -- everybody wants to play. That's my ultimate goal." For answers to more mailbag questions, click here.
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