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Chargers will see familiar faces in joint practices with Saints

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Eric D. Williams
ESPN Staff Writer

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Good friends from their time coaching together with the Dallas Cowboys in 2005 -- when Anthony Lynn served as the running backs coach and Sean Peyton coached quarterbacks -- Lynn's Los Angeles Chargers and Payton's New Orleans Saints will square off in joint practices on Thursday and Friday.

Lynn said the teams will compete in a fully-padded practice on Thursday and no pads on Friday, before meeting on the field in the second preseason game on Sunday at the StubHub Center.

"I know what type of coach he is," Lynn said of Payton. "I know his players are going to respect him. They come in here, and we're going to have two clean practices. Sean and I worked together in Dallas, and we've known each other forever."

The Chargers already scrimmaged against their crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Rams twice earlier in training camp. Things got chippy during the second joint scrimmage, when three fights broke out resulting in two players being dismissed from the practice.

However, the joint practices have been a good evaluation tool for Lynn and the rest of his coaching staff, providing more opportunities to assess players in a game-like atmosphere against someone other than their own team.

"They'll be good," Lynn said. "Sean and I, we have a good plan -- good situations we want to get through and see how guys compete against one another. It'll be good. We're looking forward to it."

The Chargers also will see some familiar faces when the Saints arrive on Thursday. Drew Brees, a former second-round pick of the Chargers in 2001 who played five seasons for the team, remains the unquestioned leader of the Saints' offense.

And linebacker Manti Te'o, a second-round selection in 2013 ...

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