A blob of sweat turned Keenan Allen’s light-gray sweatshirt a few shades darker.

Another day of practice complete.

The Chargers wide receiver stood at his locker this week, recapping the one aspect to his third NFL season of which he arguably can be the most proud. It was not what happened Sunday. It was not the 15 receptions that tied a single-game franchise record, 10 coming in the second half of a comeback win. It was not the career-high 166 receiving yards, most among all NFL players in Week 1.

It was how Allen prepared for the season.


He and cornerback Jason Verrett made each other better.

“It’s just best on best, going at it every day, seeing each other every day,” Allen said. “I don’t think there’s anyone who can out-quick him or out-think him. ... Trying to compete with him every day and then going out in a game, it’s a little bit easier than in practice.”

“We both want to be the best at our position, let alone on this team,” Verrett said. “Just to make a name throughout the league. We try to be a young, rising star.”

Allen, 23, and Verrett, 24, trained together this offseason and pushed each other daily during training camp. The early payoff came in the opener, Allen delivering eye-popping production as Verrett kept Lions wide receiver Golden Tate from doing the same.


It is about consistency now.

The pair look for it Sunday in Cincinnati and thereafter.

Allen often wears a sweatshirt under his pads when he practices. Come game day, he removes the extra layer, feeling lighter and faster on the field because of it, he says. Wednesday was the first practice since Week 1. Allen didn’t let up, his soaked shirt resembling that of a dad following a pick-up basketball.

Consistency.


It separates the good from the great in this league, what defines greatness in any sport. Allen and Verrett demand it from each other.

All reps matter.

They look forward to them.

Wednesday typically is the day the Chargers install the game plan for an upcoming opponent. The first-team offense and defense will practice over three days against the “scout team” to prepare for Sunday.


That does not consume the full practice, however.

The starters work against one another, too.

“When we go O versus D, it’s me versus him,” Verrett said. “All the game plan and stuff goes out the window. It’s one on one. That’s just our mindset. When we’re going at it, it’s just like a game. I treat him like he’s an opposing player.”

Verrett long has been a junkie for preparation.


This year, as Allen grows into the league, he seems to be embracing that process like never before.

Before training camp in July, he trained with Verrett and safety Jahleel Addae at Prolific Athletes, a performance training facility in Carlsbad. They competed in cone drills. They competed in weight lifting. Everything was a competition.

It carried over into camp.

The daily back and forth between Allen and Verrett, pushing each other’s game during practice, discussing their battles afterward, were worth the price of admission had those sessions not been free to the public.


This year is Allen’s third NFL season.

It also may be his first truly professional one.

“If you look at the 90-man roster going into camp, the depth and the type of players we brought in this year,” coach Mike McCoy said, “the focus was the overall competition of the entire team. It’s not just those two guys, but it’s the entire team.

“When you get two great players like that, going against each other and (teammates) see those two guys competing back and forth — they don’t want a ball to be completed and Keenan doesn’t want to be covered — it gets competitive. I think that’s the great thing about when you have players like that. Everyone sees that.”


And then, the results.

Verrett shut down Tate on Sunday. Really, it was a pretty inactive day for the Chargers’ 2014 first-round pick. Only four passes were thrown in his direction. One, a 6-yarder on third-and-10, was the only one completed. The defense played only 47 snaps, about 20 fewer than the average.

So, Verrett was able to watch Allen work.

He watched him work 35-year-old cornerback Rashean Mathis. He watched him help work the Chargers back into the game, ultimately rebounding from a 21-3 second-quarter deficit.


“When I’m on the sideline, I’m just screaming at him, ‘Work!”’ because I already know exactly what he’s going to do,” Verrett said. “He’s about to go to work. When he makes his catches, I feel like I’m out there, hyped up for him.”