Safety Elijah Molden has quickly fit in with the Chargers defense

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Safety Elijah Molden has quickly fit in with the Chargers defense

2024-09-20 16:00 Last Updated At：16:10

rgers acquired Elijah Molden because of his versatility in the secondary. What they've also discovered is that he's a quick study.

After having only seven practices with the Chargers, Molden started at safety in last Sunday's 26-3 win over the Carolina Panthers. Not only did Molden have an interception, he was the only player on defense to be in for all 48 snaps.

“He's a great football player, instinctual and a great mind,” defensive coordinator Jesse Minter told reporters in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday as the Chargers continued preparations for Sunday's game at Pittsburgh. “It's a major shout out to him.”

Molden was a third-round pick by Tennessee in 2021 and started 16 of 33 games with the Titans. He played cornerback at the University of Washington and during his rookie season with the Titans. He missed most of the 2022 season due to a groin injury before moving to safety in 2023.

The Chargers got Molden for a 2026 seventh-round draft pick on Aug. 28. He arrived in Southern California the next day for a physical and to meet the coaching staff, but didn't have his first practice until Sept. 2.

With Alohi Gilman sidelined last week due to a knee injury, Molden stepped into a starting spot and showed the front office was adept in acquiring the fourth-year player.

“I wanted to be on a team where I felt valued. I kind of knew that my best ball was ahead of me and the Chargers believed in me too,” Molden said.

Gilman and Derwin James also helped get Molden up to speed with the playbook along with defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, safeties coach Chris O'Leary and defensive quality control assistant Robert Muschamp.

What has also helped Molden is that there were a lot of similarities between Minter's defensive scheme and the Titans' scheme.

“I kind of knew the big picture, I just needed to figure out the details,” Molden said. “Initially I thought it was all the same, but coach Minter has his own way of teaching techniques, the fundamentals and stuff. So it definitely took a couple of days of memorization along with getting used to the different terminologies.”

Molden' second-quarter interception came when he read Bryce Young was going to target Carolina receiver Diontae Johnson on an in route. Molden got a couple steps in front of Johnson and was able to pick it off for his third career interception.

Molden isn't the only August signing who is contributing for the Chargers. Linebacker Shaquille Quarterman and defensive lineman Teair Tart have also seen action the first two games.

During training camp and the preseason, first-year general manager Joe Hortiz signed nine players, traded for two and made a waiver claim as he looked to form the best 53-man roster.

“Every guy that’s been added to the team has been value added in a big way. The efforts of the personnel department have been A-plus-plus so far,” coach Jim Harbaugh said.

Gilman returned to practice this week and could return to the starting lineup to face the Steelers. Molden would move back down to the third safety spot, but still would see plenty of snaps.

Minter has made it a point during the first two games to rotate as many players as possible. Twenty one saw action against the Panthers with 17 playing at least 12 snaps.

The Chargers have allowed a league-low 13 points in wins against the Raiders and Panthers. Last week the Bolts defense didn't allow a completion over 10 air yards.

The matchup against the Steelers could play to the Chargers early strengths. Steelers quarterback Justin Fields has targeted passes outside the numbers a league-high 70%. Los Angeles is allowing a league-low 3.2 air yards per pass attempt on throws targeted outside the numbers.

“The way everyone is practicing right now allows them to play the game with a free mind because they're able to take some of the things from the film study and practice and anticipate plays that are coming without guessing. That's a big difference,” Minter said.

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French cult film 'La Haine' returns as hip-hop musical with tensions persisting in poor suburbs

2024-09-20 15:47 Last Updated At：15:51

Watching “La Haine” nearly 30 years ago, there was a sense of something inexorable about violence in the French suburbs.

French director Mathieu Kassovitz’s critically acclaimed black-and-white film opens with video images of news footage of urban riots. The film then follows three friends — Hubert, Vinz and Saïd — over the course of 24 hours in a world of police brutality. It ends with the killing of one of the young men by a police officer.

A confrontation ensues, followed by a voice-over: ‘‘It’s about a society in free fall." A gunshot is heard, leaving little doubt as to the dramatic outcome, with more blood spilled.

The film served as a revelation about the grim reality of life in what the French call the “banlieue” — the deprived suburbs with housing projects — and took the 1995 Cannes Film Festival by storm. Kassovitz won the best director award, and “La Haine” achieved cult status in France and around the world.

Nearly three decades later, it’s still hailed as the reference film on housing projects in crisis. Kassovitz and theater director Serge Denoncourt are giving it new life, turning it into a stage musical that opens in October.

The title remains the same — “La Haine,” which translates as “hate,” but adds a subtitle: “So far, nothing has changed.”

“Two days after we announced the show (last year), we were very hyped,” Kassovitz said. ”We were very happy to say: ’OK, we’re going to officially announce it and it’s going to be a beautiful show and it’s going to be a beautiful party and everything. Two days later, we saw the video of Nahel, you know, the kid who got shot by policemen.”

Kassovitz was referring to Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old delivery driver who was fatally shot by a police officer in June 2023, sparking riots across the country and unleashing anger over police violence, poverty and discrimination against people with immigrant backgrounds. Merzouk was of North African origin.

“Yes, we know why we are doing this,” Kassovitz said. “It’s for him. It’s for all the victims that suffered that kind of violence after so many years.”

Despite shooting “La Haine” in black and white, Kassovitz tries to avoid overly simplistic conclusions about the roots of violence.

“We are trying to solve the questions that the movie raised,” he said. "We cannot point fingers all the time. Maybe now it’s time to have solutions. And we think that the solution is love. So, that’s what the show is. It's how to stop hating and start loving.”

To find the trio of actors who would carry this message of love through the musical, Kassovitz and his team traveled across France for months. The director believes that Aliyou Diop, Samy Belkessa and Alexander Ferrario are the right choices to recreate the chemistry from the film.

For all its darkness, the movie already had a dose of good feeling. It's filled with dozens of funny punch lines and jokes that only reinforce the bond and love between the three main protagonists as they venture into the heart of Paris.

“There’s a lot of love in the hood, too” said Diop, who comes from a working-class neighborhood in the port city of Le Havre. “Otherwise we’d all be shooting at each other. In the movie you see three buddies living in a complicated context, and you forget the context as you watch the film. They manage to make us forget that. That’s why I like them so much. They laugh, they laugh in their misery.”

When Kassovitz made his film, French suburban culture was still largely underground. The local rap music scene had already emerged, but the local mainstream media tended to portray the youth from the housing projects in an unflattering and largely fear-based light.

Kassovitz said that he's pleased that some of the stereotypes have been broken and that suburban youth are now getting a chance to make their way to the top of the charts, like French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, who sang at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

For Kassovitz, the difference between the film and the show is that there is no need to warn people that this is about kids from the projects. "Thirty years ago nobody knew them, so we had to make a movie to introduce them to the French culture,” he said.

Diop, who plays Hubert in the musical and is also a rap artist, impressed the casting team with his stage presence. An essential asset in a musical show that combines dance, cinema, rap, theater and live performance, which Denoncourt hopes will be groundbreaking.

“We’re trying to put things together in an artistic way, but not too, too cute. We like the raw material that we have with the breakdancing, with the rap,” he said. "The show is pretty raw.”