Chargers general manager A.J. Smith, displeased with the Chargers 38-28 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, called his team "soft." Sort of. Here's the quote:

“Everything is wrong with it right now. I’m not the least bit happy in a lot of areas. I’ve seen us be tough and physical to soft and bewildered.”

Now Shawne Merriman(notes) is mad at him. If I was A.J. Smith, though, I wouldn't be too worried, because from what we've seen so far this year, as long there's any sort of a warm, living body between Smith and Merriman, Merriman can't get to him. Really, any toddler would do.

Merriman got bent out of shape about the "soft" label. Here was his response, via the AP:

“I don’t know too much of that. That’s an opinion of a person, and it’s not needed,” Merriman said. “We know that we have to play better. We met for an extra hour and a half as a defense as a whole to discuss what we need to do and things we need to do to get better. And we’re going to make adjustments in this locker room as far as players and our attitudes and getting after people a little more. But all that extra (stuff) is not needed at all.” [...]

“The only opinions that matter to me are the ones in this locker room. Anything else, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

Well, it might matter. Especially since Merriman's contract is up after this year, and Smith is the one deciding whether or not Merriman gets to stay in San Diego.

There's also the small matter of Smith being right. I understand that Merriman doesn't want to hear it from anyone outside of the locker room, and that's fine, but I don't see how he's in a position to defend himself or the defense.

It's not that I blame Merriman; as he's still clearly hobbled with the knee injury and probably shouldn't even be on the field yet, but let's face it: The Chargers are giving up 25 points and 365 yards per game. They have a paltry six sacks in four games. They're giving up 4.6 yards per carry. They were pushed around by the Steelers offensive line, and they shouldn't be pushing around anybody.

You can attribute that to injuries or whatever, and that might be legit, but the bottom line is that it's not very good. If Shawne Merriman or anyone else doesn't like it, they can feel free to go out on the field and change perceptions, but until they do, "soft" is the label that A.J. Smith and everyone else will give them.