ON THE MEND : Eligible to Return Sunday, Tolliver Practicing With Chargers Again
SAN DIEGO — Charger Coach Dan Henning is worried about rookie quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver. Tolliver, who broke his left collarbone against Phoenix in the final exhibition game Sept. 1, is worried about Henning.
Henning knows Tolliver is eligible to come off injured reserve after the Chargers’ home game Sunday against Seattle. But he’s concerned about what might happen if he brings Tolliver back before the bone completely heals.
“Billy’s not a big milk drinker,” Henning said Monday.
Tolliver is concerned Henning may be too protective about his health.
“My time’s up, I’m outta jail,” Tolliver said after reading defenses and throwing to route-running receivers during a light workout Monday. It was the first time Tolliver had done so since the injury.
Tolliver said team physician Gary Losse inspected the shoulder Monday and told him the injury was “playable.” Tolliver also said he expected to start practicing in pads this week.
But, he added, “I’m not a doctor. I went to school five years and am still classified as a freshman.”
The latter remark was a concession to conventional medical wisdom and Henning’s final authority in the matter.
“We’ll wait as long as we can,” Henning said, when asked how soon Tolliver would begin practicing on a regular basis. Asked if it was a certainty that Tolliver would be activated after the Seattle game, Henning said: “It’s not a slam dunk. But it’s above the rim.”
Fortunately for the Chargers, Tolliver’s return isn’t urgent. At least not yet. Injury-prone quarterback Jim McMahon is relatively healthy. McMahon’s back-up at the moment, David Archer, is perfectly fit.
Quarterback Mark Vlasic, who seriously injured his knee against the Rams last year, is eligible to come off the physically-unable-to-perform list next week.
But Henning made it clear before Tolliver’s injury that Tolliver is the Chargers’ No. 2 quarterback. And he has said nothing since to disabuse anybody of that notion.
The knee injury sustained by H-back Rod Bernstine in Sunday’s 16-10 loss at Denver isn’t severe. But, Henning said, it will probably keep Bernstine out of action against Seattle.
Bernstine was in Bryan, Tex., Monday attending his stepfather’s funeral. Henning said Bernstine could return for treatment as early as today.
Bernstine is the Chargers’ leading receiver with 21 receptions and he is their third leading rusher with 137 yards in 15 carries (9.1 average). His injury is strained medial collateral ligaments of the left knee.
That’s the same knee Bernstine hurt last December at Cincinnati. He missed the final two games of 1988. But Sunday’s damage was in a different area of the knee.
Henning reported no other significant injuries from Denver.
Two starters, wide receiver Quinn Early and cornerback Sam Seale, didn’t play against the Broncos because of injuries. Henning said he thought Early (knee) would be back this week but he wasn’t sure about Seale (shoulder).
Maybe somebody should remind Denver the Broncos are 4-1. It was hard to tell by reading the sports pages one day after they beat the Chargers.
“We got a ways to go to be where we want to be,” said Denver Coach Dan Reeves.
“We have to get that urgency,” said Denver tight end Clarence Kay. “But you can’t point fingers right now.”
“How about a little punch from what is supposed to be one of the most exciting offenses in the National Football League,” asked columnist Teri Thompson in Monday’s edition of the Rocky Mountain News. “How about some points? How about some big plays?”
How about staying in touch with reality?
Charger Notes
In the two games in which they have taken the ball away more times than they have turned it over, the Chargers have won. In the three games in which they haven’t, the Chargers have lost. . . . Charger Coach Dan Henning praised the 75,222 people who showed up at Mile High Stadium Sunday to watch Denver beat his team, 16-10. “I thought they were excellent,” he said. “That’s a large stadium and it was a full house, but that was basically a good crowd.” Henning said he had heard Denver’s crowd might be unruly because of the boorish behavior of Cleveland’s fans in Denver’s 16-13 road loss in Week Four. . . . Henning credited the blocking of running backs Marion Butts and Tim Spencer and the play of left tackle Joel Patten in preventing Simon Fletcher, the Broncos’ right outside linebacker, from sacking quarterback Jim McMahon Sunday. Fletcher entered the game leading the NFL with 6 1/2 sacks.
