Denzel Perryman quickly listed name after name as he dove deep into his mental roster of the 2015 Chargers.

Manti Teʻo, Melvin Ingram, Kavell Conner and Donald Butler took Perryman under their wing, the Chargers linebacker said. The 11-year veteran said he relied on older teammates when he entered the NFL as they helped him adjust to the schedule and regimen of professional football.

“When I was a young guy,” Perryman said, “my head was all over the place — just trying to get the gist of the NFL. They taught me how to be where my mind is.”

With the Chargers (10-4) entering the final stretch of the season and on the cusp of clinching a playoff berth heading into Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys (6-7-1), veterans have played an important role in the team winning six of its last seven games.

A win over the Cowboys coupled with either a loss or tie by the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon or an Indianapolis Colts loss or tie on Monday night would secure a playoff berth for the Chargers.

Perryman, who recorded a season-best nine tackles in the Chargers’ win over the Kansas City Chiefs last week, credits Philip Rivers and the rest of the Chargers’ veterans for showing him “how to be a pro” a decade ago. Now he’s passing along those lessons to younger players in a transfer of generational knowledge across the Chargers’ locker room.

“When I came in as a young guy, I thought this happens every year,” safety Derwin James Jr. said of winning, starting his career on a 12-4 Chargers team in 2018. “Remember the standard. Remember, whatever we’re doing now, to uphold the standard, so that way, when guys change, coaches change, anything changes, the standard remains.”

Running off the field at Arrowhead Stadium, third-year safety Daiyan Henley charged at a celebrating Tony Jefferson, a veteran mentor at his position who was waiting for teammates after being ejected for an illegal hit on Chiefs wide receiver Tyquan Thornton.

After the game Jefferson and Henley hopped around like schoolchildren on the playground. That’s the atmosphere the veterans want to create, Jefferson said, one in which younger players in the secondary can turn to him.

“That’s what we’re here for,” Jefferson said. “For them to watch us and follow, follow our lead, and see how we do our thing.”

It’s not just the veteran stars that are making a difference. Marcus Williams, a 29-year-old safety with 109 games of NFL experience, replaced Jefferson against the Chiefs after being elevated from the practice squad. The 2017 second-round pick played almost every snap in Jefferson’s place, collecting four tackles.

“That just starts with the culture coach [Jim] Harbaugh creates,” defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said. “It’s really a 70-man roster.”

Harbaugh highlighted defensive lineman/fullback Scott Matlock’s blocking technique — a ba-boop, ba-boop, as Harbaugh put it and mimed with his arms — on designed runs as an example of a veteran bolstering an offensive line trying to overcome the absence of Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater.

Harbaugh said his father, Jack, taught Matlock the ba-boop, ba-boop blocking technique during an August practice.

“He’s severely underrated as an athlete,” quarterback Justin Herbert said of the 6-foot-4, 296-pound Matlock, who also catches passes in the flat as a fullback.

With three games left in the regular season, Jefferson said the focus is on replicating the postseason-like efforts they gave in consecutive wins over the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

“It was good that they were able to get a taste of that,” Jefferson said of his younger teammates playing against last season’s Super Bowl teams, “because these games down the stretch are really what’s to come in the playoffs.”

Los Angeles Rams star wide receiver Puka Nacua’s tumultuous Thursday began with an apology and ended with more controversial remarks.

In between, he had a career-best performance. 

After catching 12 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Nacua once again expressed his frustration with how NFL referees handled the game.

Nacua previously suggested game officials shared similarities to attorneys. The remarks came after the third-year wideout claimed some referees throw flags during games to ramp up their camera time.

After the Seahawks 38-37 win propelled Seattle to the top spot in the NFC standings, Nacua took a veiled shot at the game’s officials. 

“Can you say i was wrong. Appreciate you stripes for your contribution. Lol,” he wrote on X.

The Pro Bowler added that his statement on X was made in “a moment of frustration after a tough, intense game like that.”

RAMS STAR PUKA NACUA ACCUSES REFS OF MAKING UP CALLS TO GET ON TV: ‘THE WORST’

“It was just a lack of awareness and just some frustration,” Nacua said. “I know there were moments where I feel like, ‘Man, you watch the other games and you think of the calls that some guys get and you wish you could get some of those.’ But that’s just how football has played, and I’ll do my job in order to work my technique to make sure that there’s not an issue with the call.”

But, this time, Nacua’s criticism resulted in a hefty fine. The league issued a $25,000 penalty, according to NFL Network. 

Nacua had expressed aggravation on social media just days after the 24-year-old asserted during a livestream appearance with internet personalities Adin Ross and N3on that “the refs are the worst.”

“Some of the rules aren’t … these guys want to be … these guys are lawyers. They want to be on TV too,” Nacua said, per ESPN. “You don’t think he’s texting his friends in the group chat like, ‘Yo, you guys just saw me on “Sunday Night Football.” That wasn’t P.I., but I called it.’”

On Thursday, reporters asked Nacua if he wanted to clarify his stance on the suggestion referees actively seek being in front of cameras during games. 

“No, I don’t,” he replied.

Also on Thursday, Nacua apologized for performing a gesture that plays upon antisemitic tropes.

“I had no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetuated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people,” the receiver said in an Instagram post. “I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry or hate of another group of people.”

Rams coach Sean McVay dismissed the idea that all the off-field chatter surrounding Nacua was a distraction leading up to Los Angeles’ clash with its NFC West division rival. 

“It wasn’t a distraction at all,” McVay said. “Did you think his play showed he was distracted? I didn’t think so either. He went off today.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sean McVay serves on the NFL’s competition committee.

So it’s a given that the next time the group convenes, the Rams coach will have a specific situation and rule to discuss.

Particularly, the one that occurred on a two-point conversion attempt during the Rams’ 38-37 defeat by the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night at Lumen Field in Seattle.

After the Seahawks scored a fourth-quarter touchdown that pulled them to within 30-28, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold attempted what was at first ruled a forward pass that was tipped by Rams linebacker Jared Verse before falling incomplete.

But as the teams lined up for the ensuing kickoff, the referee announced that upon review it had been ruled a backward pass, so the play remained alive until the ball was picked up by Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet in the end zone, making it a successful conversion that tied the score.

“When situations and circumstances arise like that, those will be things that I guarantee you will be addressed and conversed over,” McVay said Friday during a videoconference with reporters.

During his postgame news conference on Thursday, McVay said that he did not receive clarity about the call during the game.

But he did by Friday.

“It’s a technicality issue,” McVay said. “What they said is, ‘You can’t advance a fumble under two minutes on two-point plays or on fourth downs.’ That’s the thing.

“Because they said it was a backwards pass, that’s how it was able to be advanced.”

Rams defensive lineman Kobie Turner said after the game that he was “definitely shook” by the changed call. But Rams players have meetings about being “situational masters” who always end up with the ball, he said.

“I should have been there to pick up the ball,” Turner said. “But I saw Verse hit it, then I saw [safety] Kam [Curl] almost catch a pick and I was like, ‘Welp, he almost caught it.’ And then I went to go and celebrate Verse.

“That’s definitely going to be one of those clips on situational masters.”

On Friday, McVay said that he had “total appreciation” and “empathy” for officials who are put in difficult spots, but “I do not believe that anybody would be in disagreement that those are not the plays we want in our game.”

He added: “I can’t imagine anybody thinks that plays like that should be counted as conversions. I know I would feel that way even if I was a beneficiary and the roles were flipped and that benefited us last night.

“I can honestly say that.”

Etc.

Rams guard Kevin Dotson suffered an ankle sprain during the game, and also was on the receiving end of a stomp by Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall, who was suspended by the NFL for a game because of his actions. “I think he was injured before,” McVay said, “but it certainly didn’t help matters and it’s definitely not stuff we want in our game.” Dotson is doubtful for the Rams’ Dec. 29 game against the Atlanta Falcons, McVay said. Justin Dedich would start in his place. Receiver Davante Adams (hamstring) also “most likely” will not be available against the Falcons, he said. … Receiver Puka Nacua, who was fined $25,000 by the NFL for critical comments of officials he made during a livestream earlier in the week, will not face additional discipline by the team, McVay said. After the game, Nacua posted to X about the officials. “I talked with him right afterwards,” McVay said. “He is a young guy that is continuing to learn the importance of his platform. … What I want to continue to educate him on is there are platforms that he’s got an incredible influence on. There’s a time to be able to have people to vent to. That is not the space to do that. He knows that and I feel very confident that that will not be an issue for us moving forward.”