COSTA MESA — It took Chargers wide receiver Joshua Palmer some time to remember the route he was supposed to run on the fourth-and-21 play that increased the absurdity level between the Chargers and Raiders in last season’s thrilling regular-season finale.

Palmer revealed Monday that the Chargers practiced the play briefly a few weeks before the game and didn’t discuss it again until that pressure-filled situation in Las Vegas with the playoffs on the line. The Chargers suffered a heartbreaking loss in overtime, but they wouldn’t have gotten that far without Palmer’s 23-yard touchdown reception that continued their late rally.

“We just put this in (and said), ‘When in doubt, we’re going to run this play,’” Palmer recalled. “We never talked about it again until that moment. So, we all had to go deep into our memory bank and remember what the play was.”

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert provided a refresher in the huddle before sending Palmer, tight end Jared Cook and wide receivers Keenan Allen and Jalen Guyton into the end zone for the in-case-of-emergency play. The biggest play of Palmer’s rookie season gave the Chargers new life and ignited the team’s 15-point rally with less than five minutes left in regulation.

“We put that play in during fall camp, walked through it and then we never talked about that play again,” Palmer said.

Palmer’s unlikely fourth-and-21 conversion became an afterthought because soon after Herbert delivered four more times on fourth down and had a game-tying touchdown pass to Mike Williams with time expiring to extend the chaos into overtime.

“For me, personally, it was one of the biggest catches I’ve ever made in my career, but I think the play that I remembered the most was the tying play, the last play to go into overtime with Mike,” Palmer said. “That was, probably, the most memorable play. Someone threw a water bottle at us from the stands.”

The @chargers & @Raiders gave us a THRILLER in the regular season finale.

When would you like to see these rivals play in 2022?

: 2022 NFL Schedule Release — Thursday, 5/12 at 8pm ET on @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/KOHZXyZj14

— NFL (@NFL) May 7, 2022

Given what Palmer displayed during his rookie season, it’s likely that he’ll have many stories similar to the one from Las Vegas to share throughout his career. Palmer is expected to be one of Herbert’s top targets during his second season, but he’s not planning on changing his mentality from his rookie season.

“My mentality is the same,” said Palmer, who had 33 catches for 353 yards and four touchdowns last season. “I was eager to come out and eager to learn. I feel like I’ll always have that type of eagerness and looking forward to coming to work, learning from Keenan and Mike every day.

“Keenan and I are going back-and-forth when it comes to the art of playing receiver. I don’t think that’s ever going to change. It could be Year 12 and I’m still going to be eager to learn from whoever is younger than me or older than me in that room.”

Palmer quickly impressed the Chargers with his work ethic and gained Herbert’s trust early in the season. Herbert and Palmer failed to connect on a critical fourth down during their Week 6 loss against the Baltimore Ravens. The chemistry between the two increased from there.

The back-and-forth thriller against the Raiders displayed the amount of talent the Chargers have at wide receiver with Allen, Williams and Palmer, but many draft pundits still had the Chargers penciled in to select a speedy wide receiver in the first round of last month’s draft. The Chargers went with offensive guard Zion Johnson with their 17th overall pick, and as of now, are content with Jalen Guyton being their speed option at wide receiver.

“I feel like a lot of people that talk about that aren’t sitting in the room, so it doesn’t even matter what they think,” Palmer said about the pundits who claim the Chargers need better speed at receiver.

Palmer might not possess blazing speed, but he proved last season he’s destined to be a top playmaker for Herbert in 2022.

UNKNOWN ROLE

With the Chargers adding cornerbacks J.C. Jackson and Bryce Callahan in the offseason, many are wondering what that means for Asante Samuel Jr., last year’s rookie standout.

Samuel and Michael Davis were the Chargers’ starting outside cornerbacks last season.

Jackson, the prize from free agency, will take over as the team’s No. 1 outside cornerback. Samuel will likely remain a starter on the outside, but the Chargers are also considering him for the role of slot cornerback.

“That’s a good question,” Samuel said when asked about his role in 2022. “Honestly, I’m just going to leave it up to the coaches, whatever they feel like I need to do. I’m a team player. Whatever we have to do to win the game, that’s what I’ll do. It doesn’t really matter to me.”

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The Chargers could have Samuel on the outside with Jackson for their base defense and move Samuel to the slot for plays with three cornerbacks or more. Davis will likely contribute as an outside cornerback with Callahan helping as an inside cornerback.

Regardless of what roles will be defined in training camp, Samuel is expected to see many snaps for his second season.

“I feel comfortable on the field, so just put me on the field.”

NOTES AND BOLTS

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