Brandon Staley on Donald Parham Jr.’s Week 17 touchdown reception: ‘[It is] a tremendous story of perseverance’

The Los Angeles Chargers have cemented themselves as one of the AFC’s top teams in 2022 and added a key weapon to their arsenal when they got tight end Donald Parham Jr. back after a long stint on the injured reserve list.

Parham caught his first touchdown of the season against the Los Angeles Rams last week, and Chargers head coach Brandon Staley took time to recognize his achievement in his comments to the media on Monday. Speaking to reporters, Staley made it clear that the six-point score meant a lot to his big-bodied tight end, and was a long time coming after the adversity Parham faced earlier in the year.

“[It is] a tremendous story of perseverance, of will inside of a player,” Staley explained of the play. “Football has tested his patience. To see him go out like that and play a really complete game — I thought that he blocked extremely well yesterday, he was a factor in the passing game. To score a touchdown, a big red-area touchdown for us, it was a big moment for him.

“Everyone on the sideline, you could see it, the way that his teammates feel about him, his coaches feel about him. We have to continue to build off of that performance. Hopefully, he can continue to play with the confidence that you’re seeing because he is a weapon for us.”

Quarterback Justin Herbert is sure to continue targeting Parham through the rest of the season, especially in the red zone where his incredible six-foot-eight frame gives him a huge advantage over smaller defensive backs.