James’ Value Spreads Wide for Chargers : Johnson, Neuheisel Among Those Cut at Camp on Final Day
SAN DIEGO — Manic Monday--otherwise known as final cutdown day--came and went quietly this year, except for all of its small implications.
The Chargers waived wide receiver Bobby Johnson Monday morning, and Lionel James, who usually comes off the bench as a running back, put in a lot of time at Johnson’s position in morning workouts.
Coach Al Saunders said James would likely start against the Chiefs in Kansas City, but he wouldn’t say where. Saunders says he considers James a “running back”, but James got an endorsement from assistant coach Roger Theder for his performance at wide receiver in the Jets’ game last week.
Whatever he is, James is a primary part of a more-than-ever complicated Charger offense, which now likely will include a confusion-inducing setup of three running backs at times.
The Chargers on Sunday will open with Wes Chandler as one receiver, with Gary Anderson at half back, with either Tim Spencer or Barry Redden at fullback and with James somewhere in between. Theder says the Chiefs might not know what to think. Sometimes, Anderson will line up wide and sometimes James will line up wide and who knows what else will happen.
“I’ll say this about Lionel,” Theder said Monday. “He did a real fine job the other night (against the Jets) at wide receiver. He found the holes in the defense. Dan (Fouts) has a good feel for where he’ll be.”
“We’re going to be a tricky offense,” said James, who has played some wide receiver before, but never exclusively. “If you’re a defensive coordinator and you see three running backs in a game, you’re first thought is run. Well, at least, you’ve got to respect the run. You just can’t drop guys off on pass defense. This is why this offense is so great. We don’t have an Eric Dickerson to pitch it to 30 times a game, but we can put it here and put it there and no one will quite know for sure where it’s going.”
Johnson, acquired from the New York Giants three weeks ago for a conditional draft pick, originally thought he’d be a starter. He was a former first-stringer in New York, and when the Chargers traded Trumaine Johnson to Buffalo 10 days ago, Johnson was their only experienced wide receiver besides Chandler.
But Theder wasn’t impressed with Johnson’s speed, and neither was Saunders. Plus, rookie Jamie Holland and second-year pro Timmie Ware were superior special teams players.
“I’m still in shock,” Johnson said. “I didn’t really get a chance here. I mean, I was ready to play in the San Francisco game, but they didn’t put me in. Then I really started wondering when they only used me in the third and fourth quarters against the Jets. It didn’t seem right. But, I mean, why trade for me and not keep me?”
Other than Johnson, the most noteworthy player to go was quarterback Rick Neuheisel, who failed to beat out rookie Mark Vlasic for the third-string job. So Neuheisel, who said he sort of expected to get cut, will return to law school at USC.
Neuheisel was 23 for 32 in his three exhibition games, but he said he knew he was in trouble when Vlasic played more than a quarter last Friday night against the Jets and completed 10 of 12 passes. Meanwhile, Neuheisel came in for one series against the Jets and completed all four of his passes.
“If I never play again,” he said, “at least I’ll know I finished 4-for-4.”
Saunders told Neuheisel to leave his phone number. Fouts, the starter, and Mark Herrmann, the backup, have been known to be injury-prone, and the Chargers might need to bring in another quarterback later in the year.
Besides releasing Johnson and Neuheisel, the Chargers got down to the minimum of 45 players by waiving eight others and placing five more on the injured reserve list.
Waived were defensive end Monte Bennett, defensive backs Walt Harris and Gardner Williams, wide receiver Anthony Hancock, tight end Malcolm Moore, tackle Broderick Thompson and linebackers Tyronne Stowe and Jeffrey Jackson.
Heading for the injured reserve list were linebacker Woodrow Lowe (arthroscopic knee surgery today), defensive back Nelson Jones (ankle), defensive end Keith Baldwin (knee) and offensive linemen Curt DiGiacomo (ankle) and Jeff Walker (knees).
Originally, the Chargers planned on keeping eight offensive linemen, but they ended up keeping seven because Ken Dallafior and Dennis McKnight and James FitzPatrick and Sam Claphan can all play more than one position. The problem is that FitzPatrick has a knee infection and could be lost anywhere from 1-to-4 weeks. The Chargers will know the status of his injury today, and Saunders said they might sign another lineman to take his place.
Rookie tight end Rod Bernstine has a pulled hamstring and might go on injured reserve, Saunders said.
On the other hand, tight end Kellen Winslow, who missed the Jet game with a knee infection, is expected to play Sunday.
Saunders opened Monday’s team meeting by saying, “Congratulations, you are the 1987 San Diego Chargers.”
When he said it, Holland, a 7th round draft pick from Ohio State, did a double-take.
“It didn’t seem real,” Holland said. “When we had the meeting, I was looking around to see who was missing, and when he said, ‘Congratulations, this is the 1987 Chargers,’ I looked around again to see who he was talking to. I said, ‘Hey, I made this team.’ And then I made my important phone calls to tell everybody.”
Charger Notes
The agent for unsigned linebacker Thomas Benson, Steve Feldman, had dinner Monday night with Steve Ortmayer, Charger director of football operations. They planned to negotiate all evening. Feldman suggested earlier in the day that a deal could be done quickly. “I think it’s pretty obvious that the San Diego Chargers and Thomas Benson aren’t benefitting from the current situation. So let’s get him signed.” According to Feldman, the two sides are anywhere between $50,000 and $70,000 apart. Meanwhile, owner Alex Spanos said he didn’t care if Benson plays this season. “I’m not a bit (worried about it),” Spanos said. “We’re putting a good offer out there. If he doesn’t want to play, that’s his business.”
