PRO FOOTBALL REPORT / WEEKDAY UPDATE : CHARGERS : Bernstine Activation Up In the Air

Running back Rod Bernstine said Thursday he “doesn’t have a clue” if the Chargers are going to activate him this week.

And to hear Coach Dan Henning talk, it’s no wonder why.

“We’re concerned about Les Miller’s back, and if we use one of our moves with Rod, we have to save the other one just in case we have a quarterback problem next week,” Henning said. “You get Billy Joe Tolliver hurt and you’d want to use the move for John Friesz.

“If we move Rod up we’d be shorting ourselves a defensive player and a special teams player. It might turn out we have to make a move with (linebacker) Richard Brown and wait on Rod.”

In other words, Henning doesn’t have a clue what the Chargers are going to do.

He’s concerned about Miller’s sore back, and might try to sneak linebacker Jeff Mills through waivers. If Marion Butts can play, then there’s less urgency to use one of the team’s final two free moves on Bernstine.

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Henning said Butts is suffering from a ligament problem in his foot. He said Butts did not practice, and there remains concern about his long-term health should he try to play on the sore foot.

“Now he’s out here jogging and subjectively he says, ‘I feel pretty good.’ But he’s not pounding away 250 pounds and the adrenaline’s flowing,” Henning said. “The doctors are still vacillating and if there’s any vacillation whatsoever, it’s going to go in the other direction.

“I would say at this point it’s unlikely he’s going to play. They’ve got to give me a clean bill of health on that guy to take that kind of chance right now.”

Henning said Bernstine (hamstring) looks pretty good, and Bernstine said he felt good running Thursday. “I don’t know if I’m 100% or 80%,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

Take a number.

Henning said he has talked to his team about reports out of Kansas City that the Chiefs are wary of the “cheap-shot Chargers.”

“I took everybody aside,” Henning said. “We have some feedback from their media that their players said our players were taking cheap shots. “Well, I have film to prove the opposite is true. We’re the ones who got penalized for most of it.”

Chargers’ tight end Arthur Cox drew a penalty for kicking a defender after being tackled, and Kansas City linebacker Derrick Thomas was penalized for throwing a punch.

“We want to play as hard and as strong as we can, but we don’t want to be kicking (below the belt) and punching in the face as they had done in that ball game,” Henning said. “Those are the ones that the officials are likely to see. Don’t take any (grief) and play as hard as you can within the rules.”

Nose tackle Les Miller was scheduled to undergo testing on his back Thursday, but the 300-pounder balked when he couldn’t fit in one of the medical machines.

“They wanted to grease me up to fit in it,” Miller said. “I said any machine that needs me to get greased up isn’t made for me.”

Miller said he’s been bothered by his back for the past three weeks, but said it felt better this week. He remains questionable for the game.

Wide receiver Nate Lewis, who had been listed as doubtful with a wrist injury, was upgraded to questionable.