The San Diego Chargers basically got complacent last season. That's what led to their 7-9 record, according to Chargers running back Ryan Mathews.
"I think we were just complacent," Mathews said Friday on NFL Network's "NFL AM." "The time that we spent there -- we spent a lot of time there -- it was the same thing over and over again. There wasn't anything new.
"I think he (Norv Turner) did everything he could to try to make us win, no doubt about it. I just think we really got complacent to where we were and what we were doing and thought we were owed to win games."
Turner was the Chargers' coach for six seasons, and he made the playoffs for the first three but not the last three. Players won't respond to hearing the same message the same way for a long period of time. That's the challenge for coaching staffs. In the end, sometimes there's a need for a new voice in the room.
"We all had the talent," Mathews said. "I think it was just going through the same routine, doing the same thing over and over again. You go there and you do what you gotta do to get ready for practice, go to practice, get out of practice.
"It was kind of just a routine thing, it wasn't something new. I think the new coaches being in here is going to be good for us."
Turner might have lost the team, but there also has to be a level of accountability from the players. You can't go through the motions, even if the message is stale. And it's not like Mathews is a 10-year veteran who has heard it all. Last season was his third in the NFL.
Mathews said there was a lack of intensity. It sounds like everyone was guilty of that.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
