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Chargers’ Desmond King, Rayshawn Jenkins have something to prove when rookie camp starts Friday

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Chargers coach Anthony Lynn and quarterback Philip Rivers both cracked jokes at defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s expense before the team began the last day of the draft, a drawn-out three-day ordeal.

Before Saturday rolled around, the Chargers and their draft board left Bradley and the defensive coaches without any new players.

Lynn said Bradley was on his way to the top of the building. Rivers joked that he should go console the new coordinator.

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The truth, though, at least to hear Bradley tell it, was that he understood that things go this way sometimes. His time would eventually come.

“It was all good,” Bradley said, a laugh punctuating the sentence.

Across the country, Desmond King was trying to tell himself the same thing.

Projected as a first-round pick in mock drafts after his senior season at Iowa, King didn’t hear his name called on Thursday. He didn’t hear it Friday during Rounds 2 or 3, either. And, Saturday, he didn’t hear it called in Round 4.

He even considered his phone might be broken because it wasn’t ringing.

The Chargers eventually selected King, a defensive back, in the fifth round. He was the second straight defensive player taken by the Chargers after they selected safety Rayshawn Jenkins in the fourth.

King finally had a team, and Bradley finally had some defenders.

King, Jenkins and the rest of the Chargers’ class will be in San Diego on Friday to begin rookie camp.

It’s the next step in the process of getting to the NFL, one that definitely started slowly for King.

“It kind of gave me a flashback to being recruited out of high school, trying to get an opportunity to go to a Division I college,” King, a three-star recruit, said after being picked. “This seems like the same story, just trying to overcome adversity and persevere through all the decision-making and things like that.”

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King vowed to come to the Chargers with a chip on his shoulder, to prove that his “measurables” — a 40-yard dash time that was a tick slow, a wingspan that could be better — wouldn’t stop him from being productive.

Bradley loves that attitude. It’s what they spoke about after the team took King 151st overall.

“His whole life, he’s proved people wrong,” Bradley said. “When I talked to him on the phone, I told him, ‘Now you get a chance prove us right.’ That’s the big thing.”

Jenkins also felt as if he was entering the NFL with plenty to prove.

“I feel like I’m going to come in and contribute right away,” he said on draft day. “I feel like L.A. got a steal. We got a steal in the fourth.”

Beginning Friday at camp, the Chargers’ draft picks and undrafted free agents will get their first opportunities. They’ll work on individual drills and, eventually, team settings. And, they’ll be closely observed.

“You really get a chance to evaluate everything — how they are in the meeting room, how they pick up information, what type of learner are they.” Bradley said. “…Everything counts to us.”

If Bradley and the Chargers can make Jenkins and King count in the secondary this upcoming season, those first two days of the draft will be an afterthought.

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“We believe in both of them and we’re excited to see them,” Bradley said. “… Just prove us right.”

Rookies sign

A year ago, the Chargers entered rookie camp without first-round pick Joey Bosa under contract. They entered training camp in the same predicament. It wasn’t until the final days of August when the team and Bosa finally agreed on a deal.

History, at least on this front, won’t be repeating itself.

The Chargers and 2017 first-round pick Mike Williams agreed to a contract Thursday. The deal is guaranteed over four years and slotted to be worth nearly $20 million.

The team also agreed to four-year deals with second-round pick Forrest Lamp, King, sixth-round pick Sam Tevi and seventh-round pick Isaac Rochell. The Chargers’ entire rookie draft class is expected to participate in camp this weekend.

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