SAN DIEGO -- Kyle Emanuel showed during preseason of his rookie year what kind of impact he could have for the San Diego Chargers.

But due to a lingering shoulder issue, the North Dakota State product never fully lived up to his potential in 2015.

At times, Emanuel could barely practice during the week, and the injury limited the linebacker's availability on game days.

Emanuel played a total of 284 defensive snaps as a rookie last season. Although injured most of the year, he missed just one game, finishing with 25 tackles, a sack and an interception.

A lingering shoulder injury limited linebacker Kyle Emanuel during his rookie season, but he's expecting bigger things from both himself and the Chargers in 2016. Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images

“I’m trying to stay healthy,” Emanuel said when asked about his goals this offseason. “I really think I could have had a good start and done some good things if I could have stayed healthy. Apart from just the injury and the physical side of it, just mentally I wasn’t as confident in myself and I couldn’t prepare as much.

“When you’re injured you can’t lift as hard, you can’t practice as hard. There’s just a lot things that go into it. And I had never experienced shoulder injuries in my life, so it was just different. I’m always trying to get bigger, faster and stronger, so that goes without saying. But if I can stay healthy, hopefully I’ll have a better year.”

Emanuel was impressive during exhibition play last season, finishing with two sacks and a forced fumble. At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, he was a fifth-round selection by San Diego in the 2015 draft out of FCS school North Dakota State.

However, the small-school product was not overwhelmed by the step up in talent at the NFL level, making a smooth transition to the faster pace. A defensive end in college, Emanuel also made a quick adjustment to playing in a two-point stance and dropping into coverage.

In addition, Emanuel had to deal with losing on a regular basis for the first time in his career. He lost just three games during his time at North Dakota State, winning four straight FCS national titles.

“It was very frustrating, no doubt about it,” Emanuel said about San Diego’s 4-12 season. “We weren’t winning games. I wasn’t playing as well as I would’ve liked to. I wasn’t able to play as much as I wanted to a lot of times. It was extremely frustrating for me. But I’m kind of using that feeling as fuel this offseason.”

Manuel said he met with new Chargers linebackers coach Bob Babich briefly at the NFL combine last year when Babich was part of a Jacksonville Jaguars staff that included two other North Dakota State products: head coach Gus Bradley and defensive coordinator Todd Wash.

Babich served as the head coach at North Dakota State for six seasons. Sharing that college bond with Babich should help ease the coaching transition for Emanuel this season.

“I’ve already had a few phone calls with him, and I’ve met him at the facility,” Emanuel said. “I’m excited to work with him. He gets the North Dakota State way, and I’m excited for him to bring that to the lineup.”

Emanuel and the rest of the linebacker group will have to get up to speed quickly as the Chargers work to turn things around after a disappointing 2015 season. And that could include a more vocal Emanuel in his second season.

“To put it simply, we’ve just got to start faster,” Emanuel said. “We can’t take a half of year basically to figure it out. I think we just need to be more detailed from the get-go in our assignments and what we’re supposed to do -- dialing into the game plan, doing what the coaches want us to do and ultimately playing hard.

“From my experience in college and everything, you can make up for a lot of mistakes just by effort. And I think doing that, combined by being detailed, we can start faster.”