LOS ANGELES -- Tuli Tuipulotu wanted an audience for this interview.
"Where's Khalil?" he repeated multiple times while walking around the visitors' locker room following the Chargers' 27-10 Week 9 win over the Cleveland Browns. "We're going to do this interview right in front of him. I'm dead serious."
Tuipulotu, the Chargers second-year outside linebacker, eventually found fellow outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who was mindlessly walking out of the training room. Tuipulotu began loudly explaining why he was better than Mack at shuffleboard, a game the Chargers frequently play in the locker room.
"I didn't see you there. My bad, bro," Tuipulotu joked as the 11th-year veteran Mack laughed and told him to stop lying. "My bad, OG, I was pretending."
Shuffleboard -- a popular barroom game where players use their hands to push weighted pucks into a scoring area on a board -- has taken over the Chargers locker room. The purpose of the game is to get the pucks as close to the end of the board as possible without them falling off. (Closer to the end of the board means more points) The game is a new one at the team's facility, The Bolt, which opened in July. It has created rivalries, daily banter and hours of game play with Tuipulotu, Mack, safety Derwin James Jr., linebacker Daiyan Henley and wide receiver Simi Fehoko among the regular players.
Tuipulotu, 22, is one of the team's quietest players. He addressed many of the Chargers' veterans as "mister" and "sir" for much of his first season and told reporters he was too nervous to talk to quarterback Justin Herbert because of Herbert's fame. But his teammates say shuffleboard has served as a vehicle for conversation that Tuipulotu otherwise wouldn't be comfortable having with players like running back J.K. Dobbins and Fehoko, who don't play his position. Despite their competitive banter, it has also made him closer with Mack.
"Tuli went from 'Yes sir' to like, 'F--- you mean OG,' or 'Shut yo ass up, ugly ass boy,'" said Mack, 33, laughing hysterically. "It definitely got him out of his shell. He's all the way out."
"I'm not really good at talking, but when it comes to competing, that just brings out a whole different me," Tuipulotu said. "I just feel like shuffleboard grew our relationships."
Other players say that the game has helped cement the tight relationships required for team success. The Chargers (5-3) have already matched their win total from last season, have the league's best scoring defense and are off to their best start since 2022.
At the old facility, the preferred game was ping pong, and Tuipulotu, kicker Cameron Dicker and Herbert were among the best players. There is a ping pong table next to the shuffleboard at the new facility, but players have neglected it this year.
The games typically happen after practice, with players getting into heated screaming matches and playing as late as 6 p.m., according to Dobbins. The style varies depending on the day; sometimes, they play in teams with two players to a squad or play one-on-one. The rules can change, too.
Tuipulotu introduced a rule where players are penalized for knocking opponents' pucks off the board. (If the player with the last turn knocks the opponent's puck off the board, that player receives zero points, and the opponent collects whatever point total it had before the hit.) According to Mack, Tuipulotu's game is "trash," he needed the help and the rule has given Tuipulotu a few additional wins he wouldn't have otherwise.
"He snuck in maybe two, three wins in the past four weeks, and we play every day," Mack said. "Think about that -- I'm at the top of the leaderboard."
Most players begrudgingly admit that Mack is the best shuffleboard player, crediting his age in a game that requires patience and a delicate touch. Even Tuipulotu, who talks the most trash to Mack and wouldn't admit it to his face, said that "OG is real good."
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Mack said that Tuipulotu and Dobbins aren't in the top three, though they are among the biggest trash talkers. "Ask J.K. what I be doing to him," Tuipulotu said confidently, signaling that Dobbins isn't a worthy opponent.
"I'm better than Tuli. When we play, I beat him more one-on-one than he beats me," Dobbins, 25, said. "Tuli is ass. Don't let him spread no lies around here. He's not that guy."
"He's just mad that I be cooking him, you know?" Tuipulotu said.
The Chargers lockers are organized by jersey numbers instead of position, a change implemented by coach Jim Harbaugh to ensure players from different positions mingle. But Dobbins, who wears No. 27 and is in his first season with the Chargers after four with the Ravens, sits near primarily defensive backs and other running backs with numbers in the mid-20s to early 30s.
But shuffleboard has helped accelerate relationships with his teammates across the locker room, like Tuipulotu (45), Mack (52) and Henley (0), who he might not have spoken to as often because of where they are placed in the locker room.
"I think little stuff like that is what makes a team better," Dobbins said.
On the field, the Chargers are on a two-game winning streak, with Sunday's win over the Browns perhaps their best of the season. The main shuffleboard characters dominated in the victory.
Dobbins gained 105 total yards and two touchdowns and blew kisses to fans heading toward the exits after his second score. Mack had two quarterback pressures, a forced fumble and one sack to put him at 4.5 sacks on the season.
Tuipulotu had the best game of his career, leading the team with a career-high 2.5 sacks and five quarterback pressures, earning him a game ball from Harbaugh.
The Chargers' defense has been one of the best units in the league, allowing the fewest points per game in the NFL (12.6), which is 2.3 points lower than the next closest team. They held the Browns to their lowest total, 10 points, since Week 4 of last season. They also sacked Browns quarterback Jameis Winston six times and forced three interceptions.
The Chargers have allowed the third-fewest points per game by any team through eight games in the last 15 seasons. The three other teams to rank in the top four over that span all advanced to the playoffs and won at least 11 games.
The defense has been the most surprising unit in the NFL. With many of the same players, last year's Chargers allowed the ninth-most points last season (23.4) and third-most passing yards per game (249.8).
"It's [defensive coordinator] Jesse Minter," James said. "And then we [are] deep. We got a deep ass team."
Dobbins, who suffered a torn Achilles in Week 1 last year that sidelined him for the rest of the season, is seventh in the NFL in rushing yards per game (77.5) and is a contender for the league's Comeback Player of the Year award.
While shuffleboard is hardly among the top reasons for the Chargers' resurgence, players acknowledge the trash talking and competition has made them closer.
"I think it's just building trust with everybody," Tuipulotu said. "Just knowing what type of mentality each other has."