To say Los Angeles Chargers rookie defensive lineman Jerry Tillery is a guy with varied interests would be a huge understatement. If you’re a fan of the team, should that concern you?
Tillery, the Bolts’ first-round pick out of Notre Dame, is certainly what you would call a “learned man”. Having graduated in 2018 with an economics degree, the former Golden Domer spent much of his first few offseasons traversing the globe, ostensibly to broaden his horizons and gain the almighty knowledge with which only world travel can provide you.
Over the past few years, Tillery has visited South Africa (and studied institutionalized racism there), Singapore, and 16 other countries. He even visited Japan after studying the subject at Notre Dame.
An extremely well-rounded man, that’s what Jerry Tillery is, obviously. The problem, at least in some people’s minds, is that all that traveling and his inquisitive nature might be a detriment to his football development. In fact, if you had read some of the pre-draft scouting reports on him, you would have noticed that almost all of the reports mentioned Tillery’s globetrotting and an insatiable desire for more and more of the culture of life as a possible weakness. As sad as that sounds, it is the NFL world in which we now live.
With all that being said, the on-the-field issue that seems to be a sticking point with NFL people (and certainly Charger coaches will now have to seriously address this) is Tillery’s effort, or lack thereof, at times.
If he is to have the kind of impact on this defense that Tom Telesco and Co. envision, then coaching is going to be paramount, probably more so than the vast majority of rookies coming into the league. Because if there’s one word that seems to be attached to the name Jerry Tillery at every turn it’s, inconsistent.
Coaches could and probably should be concerned with his occasional lapses in effort. You know, as they say, “taking plays off”. The talent in South Bend might have been far superior to some of the competition the Irish met on certain Saturdays, but the talent level Tillery will be facing in the NFL isn’t inferior on any Sundays.
Jerry Tillery is a physical specimen. The guy can be a beast. The challenge for the Chargers in training camp and into this season could very well be to keep Tillery focused enough to be a beast in every game, on every play.
Because while studying a new language is impressive, and traveling the world is enlightening, the most important language for Tillery right now is that language contained in his voluminous playbook. And the traveling he needs to focus on now is his daily commute to the team facility.