Chargers TE Green ready to make most of new opportunity
COSTA MESA (AP) — Virgil Green is used to trading personal gain for the success of the team.
In his first season with the Los Angeles Chargers, the veteran tight end’s unselfishness might be exactly what is needed following the loss of emerging star Hunter Henry to a
serious knee injury. “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, and it’s always ‘next man up’ mentality,” Green said following the first day of mandatory minicamp Tuesday. “Everybody in that room has to contribute, whether you are No. 1 on the depth chart or last on the depth chart.”
Henry sustained a torn ACL in practice last month, leaving Green as the only tight end on the roster that has caught a pass in an NFL game and drastically changing his role for the upcoming season.
Green, who signed with the Chargers as a free agent in March after playing seven seasons for the Denver Broncos, had been expected to serve mainly as a blocking complement to Henry.
Instead, Green might finally get his chance to be used more in the passing game, especially in the red zone.
It was how Green was expected to be featured coming out of college at Nevada, but he never caught more than 22 passes in a season, with 48 of his 71 career receptions coming in the past three.
The chance to play a more prominent role is refreshing to Green, who has four career touchdown catches.