CHARGER UPDATE : Injury to Grossman’s Knee Is Not Considered Serious
Defensive end Burt Grossman walked past Coach Dan Henning Thursday.
“The guy’s a fraud,” Henning said in jest.
Grossman began limping.
Grossman will miss the Chargers’ first two exhibition games with a knee strain, but club officials said the injury was not considered serious.
Grossman went down in a pileup during Wednesday night’s practice at Mesa College. After walking from the field, he said, “To show you the kind of respect I get from this organization, I’m laying there with a career-threatening injury, and they’re kicking a field goal over me. Can you believe that?”
Henning laughed. “He’s six yards deep in the end zone laid out like a beached whale,” he said, “and he wonders why we kicked the field goal over his head. We should have been patching the field with him.”
General Manager Bobby Beathard has been giving the cold shoulder to starting right tackle Broderick Thompson and his representative, Jeff Irwin.
Thompson remains unsigned, and Beathard has refused to answer Irwin’s phone calls.
“I have my reasons,” Beathard said, declining to elaborate. “I’ll be talking to Broderick’s guy soon.”
Beathard reported no progress on the holdout of running back Marion Butts or efforts to trade holdout defensive lineman Lee Williams.
“I talked to Atlanta today, but just to make it clear what we were looking for,” Beathard said. “They mentioned a player’s name around, but we weren’t interested in the player.”
Beathard will meet Saturday with Chris Knepp, the representative for first-round pick Stanley Richard. He has given Richard until Sunday night to accept the team’s offer, or it will be reduced.
Henning said wide receiver Anthony Miller probably will not play against the Oilers in Saturday night’s exhibition opener. Miller suffered a quadriceps pull in Flagstaff last week, and has been limited to light work in practice.
“It will give us a good chance to look at Troy Kyles and Walter Wilson in the spot that Anthony usually plays,” Henning said.
Wide receiver Nate Lewis starts opposite Miller and will be relieved by Kitrick Taylor and rookie Yancey Thigpen.
The Chargers have decided to release 10th-round pick Roland Poles. Poles has sought a second medical opinion. If doctors confirm that he has a sore neck, he will probably receive a medical settlement and then be cut. If not, the team will release him for displaying a bad attitude.