General manager A.J. Smith took the blame for the San Diego Chargers' 2011 season, claiming he didn't provide enough depth for Norv Turner.

Smith worked in the offseason to build the Chargers' roster with quality backups to sustain potential injuries.

“I do like the offseason we had and our draft picks,” he says. “We made a great effort to bring in the best backups out of the biggest free-agent pool I’ve seen. But it’s all a paper exercise so far. We’ll know at the end of the year how we did.

“But we can’t be left bleeding in the road like we were last year. If I had done a better job, maybe we only would have lost three in a row instead of six straight. I think we’ve had an outstanding offseason. Attendance (by players) was great, the attitude unbelievable. We had a phenomenal minicamp. I love the way we’ve prepared.”