Harbaugh's Chargers honor late Billy Ray Smith before practicing in San Diego

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jim Harbaugh brought the Los Angeles Chargers back to San Diego for two days of training camp practices at the cozy college stadium where he began his head coaching career 22 years ago.

Before quarterback Justin Herbert, safety Derwin James and the rest of the Chargers began their first padded practice of camp, the team held a moment of silence for former Chargers linebacker Billy Ray Smith, who died Wednesday at 64. His family said he died following a long battle with dementia caused by CTE.

“He was one of the great competitors in Charger history without question,” Harbaugh said shortly before practice started at 6,500-seat Torero Stadium at the University of San Diego. “And he was a great guy.”

The Chargers are wearing “BR” helmet stickers for the two San Diego practices to honor Smith, who played for 10 seasons after the Chargers made him the No. 5 pick in the 1983 NFL draft.

This is the second straight season the Chargers are holding two practices at USD, a hilltop Jesuit school about five miles west of the site where they used to play before leaving for Los Angeles in 2017.

Harbaugh, who played for the Chargers in 1999 and 2000, left his job as quarterbacks coach of the Oakland Raiders to take over at USD in 2004. He went 29-6 overall in three seasons at the FCS school.

“It was just a lot of fun,” Harbaugh said. “Blessed is the best word I can come up with.”

Harbaugh went on to become head coach at Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers and Michigan. He led the Wolverines to the national championship to cap the scandal-plagued 2023 season. He was hired by the Chargers before the 2024 season and has led them to consecutive 11-6 seasons that each ended with a loss in the wild-card round.

Herbert was particularly sharp during 7-on-7 drills, when he hit Ladd McConkey for a 25-yard score.

“Ladd is about as athletic as it gets and we’ve talked about it all camp and in OTAs about getting the receivers in the position where they turn upfield and make something happen,” Herbert said. “I think getting him involved quickly with his athleticism, how he's able to break tackles, miss tackles and just get him upfield and getting him the ball, he's going to do big things.”

Herbert called 7-on-7 drills "beneficial. It doesn’t show the entire picture with the pass rush and timing, but as long as you treat it like a serious practice rep, you can get a lot of work in.”

James “sacked” Herbert during full-squad drills, getting to him but, as per protocol, not hitting the $262 million franchise QB in the gold jersey.

“Obviously, you can’t set the tone by getting the quarterback to the ground, but I can envision making the play. I love rushing the quarterback, I love covering, I love doing it all, honestly," James said.

“It felt good to get little thuds, get off blocks. You could tell it feels like football more. I’m happy to put the pads on for sure.”

Left tackle Rashawn Slater left practice with an undisclosed injury.

“I'm sure he wanted to be back out there,” Herbert said. “He probably was trying to get back out there and they probably limited him. I talked to him a little bit.”

Asked if there would be an update, the QB said: “Probably not from me. He said he wanted to be back out there.”

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