SAN DIEGO -- Last season, the Chargers finished with a league-high 21 players on injured reserve. Toward the end of the regular season, general manager Tom Telesco said the team would take a comprehensive look at how the organization handles injuries, both in terms of securing players with healthy backgrounds and taking better care of players once they are at Charger Park.

That plan was set in motion starting in January with the hiring of head coach Anthony Lynn and includes bringing in a new strength coach in John Lott.

I talked to Lynn about the team's rash of injuries last season, and one of the things he stressed is giving players enough time to recover during the year so that they can make it through the grind of an NFL season.

But Lynn also said he will search for players who understand how to take care of their bodies and deal with nagging injuries.

One of the things Lynn said attracted him to Lott was his injury history during a 17-year NFL career as a strength coach that included stints with the Arizona Cardinals (2007-13), Cleveland Browns (2005-06) and New York Jets (1997-2004).

"I think there's a culture that you can create to help that," Lynn said about the Chargers' injury history. "I think recovery is super important for players, and taking advantage of the technology that we have today -- that's the preventative part. We have to create a certain mindset on this team that it's hard to make the club if you're in the tub, period."

Lynn went on to say that the Chargers will evaluate player history when signing free agents or selecting players in the draft.

"If there's a guy with durability issues, you might want to take a look at why he wasn't on the field," Lynn said. "Maybe where he was at, they didn't have the right resources to keep him on the field.

"But if you're a player that's constantly hurt, you're not going to be a very attractive player to me. You're availability is your biggest talent. It's hard to game plan when guys are constantly in and out of the lineup. You get no continuity on offense, defense or special teams."