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Chargers Prepare To Face Champion Seahawks Twice In Month

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Chargers are preparing to play the Seattle Seahawks on Friday night. Then, they'll do it again a month later.

"It's different, but it really isn't a big deal," San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers said.

The Chargers returned to practice on Monday after being off on Sunday. Cornerbacks Brandon Flowers (knee) and Jason Verrett (shoulder) continued to increase their workloads following offseason surgeries.

After the Chargers beat the Dallas Cowboys in Thursday's preseason opener, the focus has shifted to visiting the defending NFL-champion Seahawks.

"I imagine it won't have a preseason feel to it," Rivers said. "It's their first game back since winning it all so it will be a real atmosphere in terms on what it is like to go on the road in a tough environment."

Seattle travels to San Diego on Sept. 14, and Rivers said facing Seattle twice in a month almost gives the matchup a divisional feel because of the familiarity.

"It's weird and something that's new," Rivers said. "It will be nice to have tape of our guys going against them and then play them four weeks later.

"But at same time they're not going to run what they're going to run in the (regular season) game and we won't either."

Linebacker Donald Butler said the test comes later in stopping Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch.

"It's preseason," Butler said. "We play them Week 2 so that is when I look forward playing against Marshawn."

Defensively, the Chargers' first unit is smarting from allowing an 11-play drive against the Cowboys.

Offensively, the Chargers' starters produced an 11-play drive which ended on Ryan Mathews' fumble while diving into the end zone.

"It was a good start and the best part was we didn't have any pre-snap penalties: delay-of-games and false starts," Rivers said.

But in raucous Seattle, duplicating that feat will be a challenge.

"It will be good for us to get back in the noise and then see if we can avoid not having any false-start penalties," Rivers said. "We're going to be tested early in the preseason."

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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