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Vaughn Martin

Vaughn Martin

From Chargers.com, August 2009

Chargers defensive end Vaughn Martin has taken every available opportunity to learn, and Head Coach Norv Turner believes it’s paying off.

The first sign was that the former University of Western Ontario Mustang, who was drafted in the fourth round of this year's draft, recently signed a four-year contract with the club.

If you were looking for defensive end Vaughn Martin during a break in the first three days of training camp practices, you’d always find him with defensive line coach Don Johnson.

“Every extra minute I have in practice I’ll go aside with Coach Johnson,” Martin said. “He’s helping me with my steps, my footwork. That’s what gets me in trouble sometimes, when I misstep. We’re really trying to improve that, my hand placement and my vision. I feel like I’m stepping forward.”

Martin, one of the Chargers’ three fourth-round picks from April’s draft, has hardly taken a second off since rookies and select veterans reported earlier this week, and that’s simply a carryover from the way he spent his month of “vacation.” During the four weeks he spent in Canada between Offseason Coaching Sessions and training camp, Martin hit the gym hard and says he lost 17 pounds.

“In talking to a lot of the veterans, they told me how difficult training camp can be, especially for a rookie,” Martin said. “I didn’t want to compound the situation by coming in overweight, so I did a lot of cardio. Even the morning I left to come back to San Diego, before I got on the plane I was doing cardio.”

Head Coach Norv Turner saw Martin make improvements on the field throughout the spring, and he likes the way the London, Ontario native has picked up right where he left off prior to the break.

“A lot of young guys when they leave for a month, they don’t retain much,” Turner said. “I think he’s retained what he was taught. I think he’s fortunate to have Don Johnson coaching him, and he’s putting in a lot of time with him and being very detailed with him. I’ve been impressed with Vaughn in what he’s done in this three-day period.”

The last two days, Martin has benefitted from lining up against two-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Marcus McNeill, and the Chargers’ starting left tackle likes what he’s seen from Martin.

“He’s a hard-nosed type guy,” McNeill said. “You can see that he’s real competitive, and that’s what you need on the defensive line. I think a lot of his skills, as he gets more and more attention from his coaches, he’s going to become a great player.”