Chargers’ linebacker and former WSU star Daiyan Henley talking and playing a good game

SAN DIEGO – Former Washington State linebacker Daiyan Henley looked and sounded wiped out.

After a recent Chargers’ practice at the University of San Diego was conducted under a blazing sun, he had to walk up a steep hill and some stairs before entering a makeshift interview room inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion, the school’s basketball arena.

“I don’t know what day it is,” Henley said, smiling and wincing at the same time.

Can someone get this man a bottle of cold water?

“This is why we’re a team,” Henley said, acknowledging a member of the Chargers’ crack media relations staff, who brought him a bottle of water to aid his recovery and prepare him for what was surely the easiest part of his day, a 10-minute visit with a group of reporters.

Did you get a sack on a fourth-down play during 11-on-11 drills?

“Of course,” Henley said, smiling.

In a nanosecond, Henley was thinking of another play, a disputed catch wide receiver Ladd McConkey made in front of him during OTAs in June in El Segundo. Apparently, it had been on his mind for some time, the Chargers’ third-year linebacker not a player who is given to quiet moments of reflection.

Henley enjoys bantering with reporters as much as he does with his teammates and opponents. Some of it isn’t fit for public consumption. Some of it is family friendly.

When told McConkey said earlier that he was looking forward to going against Henley when the speed and intensity of training camp picks up over the course of the next few weeks, Henley threw his head back, laughed and put his hands on his hips as if to say, “Well, bring it on, my friend.”

“You know how you guys are,” Henley told reporters. “Offense, offense, offense.”

In fact, Henley and the Chargers’ defense were given their due during the 2024 season, when he had a breakout year and the team led the NFL by giving up only 17.7 points per game. Henley hardly saw the field as a linebacker as a rookie in the 2023 season, playing mostly on special teams.

But last season, having gotten past some nagging injuries, the former Crenshaw High star earned a significant role in the middle of the defense. Nothing is expected to change this season.

Henley had interceptions on back-to-back days in camp in July, including one that was tipped into the air before he arrived on the scene to snare the ball. He’s been a constant presence in pass coverage, no mean feat since so many passes are thrown toward the sidelines and away from his area.

Suddenly, he adopted a far more serious tone.

Someone asked about his goals and aspirations for the upcoming season.

What happens next is not a laughing matter.

“The mental (side) is, I haven’t done anything yet,” Henley said. “Last season, for a lot of people, was unexpected, but for me, it was what I wanted to do and I was expecting to reach that (level). Like, before last season, I didn’t talk about it because I don’t feel like I had gotten the due respect that I would want from it. So, I’m just driving and striving to get better every day.”