Los Angeles Chargers: Cardale Jones progressing, not ready as backup?

The Los Angeles Chargers traded for quarterback Cardale Jones a few weeks ago and it looks as though he isn’t quite ready to dethrone Kellen Clemens.

If you had a chance to watch any of the Los Angeles Chargers first preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks last weekend, then you know just how ugly things turned on offense. If it wasn’t for the first-team offense driving down the field for an opening-drive touchdown, fans might have left the game before halftime without any hope whatsoever for the team’s 2017 season.

All kidding aside, one week of preseason football doesn’t mean a thing, especially when the offensive turning the football over is led by your back-up quarterback.

While that’s not a huge concern for Los Angeles since veteran quarterback Philip Rivers will be the starter again in 2017, I thought it would, at least, put Kellen Clemens on the hot seat for the remainder of camp. However, turning the football over three times in less than two quarters didn’t seem to change the depth-chart at all.

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Here is what ESPN Chargers’ beat-writer Eric Williams had to say about the team’s current back-up quarterback situation:

"Even though he turned the ball over three times last week, Kellen Clemens remains solidly as the No. 2 quarterback on the roster. Jones and Mike Bercovici will continue to provide Clemens competition in training camp, and the Chargers are still taking a long-term approach with Jones."

If you’re anything like me, you see a terrible performance from a veteran like Clemens, knowing he has competition, and start counting the minutes until he’s either dropped from the roster or replaced on the depth-chart. That being said, Mike Bercovici may never be more than a practice-squad player in the NFL and Cardale Jones is still getting used to this Ken Whisenhunt offense.

While he’s still new to the team, it seems as though Jones is progressing nicely. Take a look at this quote from Whisenhunt in Williams’ article on ESPN:

"“Where I was pleased with him, one of the things that you’re concerned from a young quarterback is when they do it over the headset in the game, being able to call the play, get everybody in the right spot and run the offense, and he did a pretty good job with that,” Whisenhunt said. “As far of his actual mechanics of handling the game, some of the reads and some of the throws, he’s got to get better at. But it was his first game. You expect to see growth in that as he progresses.”"

Let’s be honest here, if everything goes as planned, Jones won’t see action in the team’s 2017 season. He’s still a young quarterback who needs time to develop, learn and understand the complexities of the NFL game.

Next: Chargers vs Seahawks: 3 Takeaways

While we would love to see Jones get more reps this preseason, ultimately the best thing for him may be to watch and learn.