Veterans Rivers and Brees share a long NFL history

Drew Brees and Philip Rivers had been on the same football field hundreds of times before Thursday’s meeting in Costa Mesa.

It was when both were trying to establish themselves as NFL starters with the Chargers, a job Rivers took when Brees left San Diego to sign with the New Orleans Saints.

There were games in 2008 and 2012 in which both men passed for more than 300 yards, and there was the Chargers’ fourth-quarter collapse last October when even 321 yards passing from Rivers couldn’t offset two key fumbles.

Brees and Rivers even shared a field in a San Diegoarea park when the two organized a scrimmage between their sons’ flag football teams.

“It was in a local park,” Rivers said. “We had referees come out and set up the field. And there were Drew and I out there coaching. … I just thought it was kind of cool. It was one of the moments where I kind of allowed myself to go, ‘This is pretty crazy.’ ”

After Thursday’s practice, Brees and Rivers — and the other quarterbacks from both teams — competed in a series of passing challenges, with Brees throwing up targets like he was working with a skeet shooter.

Their former coach in San Diego, Norv Turner, watched them work during the Chargers-Saints joint practices and later said that, maybe, the notion of the two men going at it during midAugust training camp practice wasn’t realistic.

But when two men with nearly 112,000 combined yards passing get the ball in the middle of August, it’s going to be a show. And, it’s going to be “pretty crazy.”

“They haven’t been hit,” Turner said. “They’re healthy. They’re fresh. They’re going to look awesome.” Rivers certainly did. During seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills against the Saints defense, Rivers routinely found his favorite targets for big plays. Antonio Gates got loose in the end zone for a couple of touchdowns. Hunter Henry, Gates’ apprentice, also caught a touchdown pass.

And Keenan Allen, sidelined for a time last week because of a sore calf, looked fully recovered, making plays all over the field before and after catching the ball.

“My legs feel good,” Allen said.

Brees also looked sharp, testing the Chargers’ young secondary early in practice — and mostly beating up on it. But as the day went on, the defense started making plays, with Dwight Lowery intercepting a pass from Brees’ backup, Chase Daniel, and rookie Desmond King picking off a Brees pass right before the end of practice. King, a fifth-round pick from Iowa, also had an interception in the Chargers’ first preseason game.

“It’s always good to get those reps,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said. “We have a lot of young corners and the more reps they get, the better they’re going to get. Some of those guys, they’re going to learn the hard way, but I believe you can learn from your mistakes.”

While there wasn’t a final score — as was the case in the flag-football scrimmage between their sons’ teams — Rivers got the better of Brees. It won’t make up for Brees’ three victories over the Chargers since leaving San Diego. And it won’t make up for his son’s win over Rivers’ son when the boys played in a “real” flag game.

But Rivers and Brees both felt as if Thursday was special, a chance for two of the best quarterbacks to do it at the same time for an entire practice.

Etc.

The Chargers’ injury report continued to grow with Russell Okung (ankle) and Melvin Gordon (undisclosed) getting the day off Thursday. They joined a list of nonparticipants that included cornerbacks Craig Mager (undisclosed) and Casey Hayward (hamstring). … Cornerback Jason Verrett continued to ramp up his workload in practice and could be on track to make his preseason debut Sunday. “We want him to play a couple of snaps this week to start working his way back in,” Lynn said. “We’ll see where he’s at. I don’t want to push it.” … Undrafted rookies Artavis Scott and Austin Ekeler made impressive touchdown catches. … Incumbent kicker Josh Lambo hit all of his kicks; Younghoe Koo missed wide right from 45 yards. … The Chargers and Saints will practice again Friday in Costa Mesa before playing Sunday at the StubHub Center.