Charger Center Hall Sustains Knee Injury : Pro football: Starting lineman won’t require surgery but might miss one game.

SAN DIEGO —  The Chargers experienced another episode in a nightmarish season Wednesday when it was feared that starting center Courtney Hall might be lost for the season.

A magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday on Hall’s right knee revealed ligament and cartilage damage. Hall met with the Chargers’ team physician, Dr. Gary Losse, Wednesday night to determine his next move.

But Bill Johnston, the team’s public relations director, said Losse’s further examination of Hall’s knee showed that the injury is not serious enough to require surgery.

Because of the Chargers’ bye week, Johnston said Hall might be able to play Nov. 10 against Seattle, but he is more likely to return Nov. 17 against New Orleans.

“They suspect cartilage damage, but they don’t think there’s a ligament tear,” Johnston said.

One of Hall’s options was arthroscopic surgery, which would have kept him out of at least one game.

“They think it will heal quicker without a scope,” Johnston said.

The injury was sustained early in the second half of Sunday’s 20-9 loss at Seattle when another player fell on Hall’s knee.

Coach Dan Henning said the decision whether to have surgery was Hall’s.

“I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize my career,” said Hall, 23, who has started all 41 games of his Charger career.

Although he was walking around the locker room without limping, Hall said his knee is stiff.

If Hall is lost for any amount of time, second-year player Frank Cornish will take his place. Cornish, a sixth-round pick in 1990 out of UCLA, started every game at center last year, while Hall moved to guard. But he has only played on special teams this season.

During his college career at Rice, Hall had operations on both shoulders, but he never had knee problems until Sunday.

Hall’s injury could be the second blow to the Chargers’ running game in two days. The team released one of its better blockers, tight end Arthur Cox, on Tuesday.

Until Tuesday, Duane Young had been just one of the “guys in the corner.” A charter member of the injured reserve squad, Young and his buddies are banished from the regular section of the locker room.

But after Cox’s release, Young might be moving out of the corner and into the Chargers’ starting lineup. He might even be given Cox’s old locker, which has yet to be cleared out.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time for this chance,” said Young, who was placed on injured reserve before the season with a sprained ankle. “I just sat back and wondered when my chance would come. I guess it just popped up on me one day.”

Young, a rookie from Michigan State, said he expects to be activated from injured reserve before the Seattle game.

“They told me earlier in the season that you will get a shot,” Young said. “Coaches and the front office kept their word.”

Henning said Young is not necessarily going to be the player taking Cox’s spot on the roster.

“We haven’t made that decision yet,” Henning said. “Not until (Young) shows he’s the guy we want to do that with.”

Henning said other possible candidates to be activated are center Mike Heldt, wide receiver Yancey Thigpen or safety Floyd Fields.

Young said he never realized he might get his chance at the expense of Cox.

“I thought maybe it would be special teams,” he said. “Any way it comes, I’ll take it. Art’s a good guy. I learned a lot from him.”

If activated, Henning said Young will compete for a starting tight end position with Craig McEwen, Derrick Walker and Steve Hendrickson.

Known for his blocking at Michigan State, Young said he is prepared to bang heads with some of the better defensive ends in the NFL.

“Just going up against Leslie (O’Neal) in practice has helped,” Young said. “He’s taught me a lot.”

Disneyland is supposed to be reserved for players from world championship teams, but linebackers Junior Seau, Galand Thaxton and Gary Plummer apparently don’t watch those commercials. They are planning to visit Disneyland anyway during the team’s four-day break that began today.

If you can believe it, Seau was overheard asking a reporter if he had any pull at Disneyland. Guess the recession is even affecting million-dollar athletes these days.