Who Will Be No. 2? : Chargers, Disappointed With Mathison, to Consider Herrmann as Fouts’ Backup

Exhibition games generally are boring, meaningless and quickly forgotten, but the Chargers’ 25-10 loss to San Francisco on Saturday may go down as one of the more significant dates of the 1985 season.

Among the key developments:

--Quarterback Dan Fouts suffered a minor groin injury and won’t play in this week’s exhibition finale against New Orleans. His understudy, Bruce Mathison, who had all but cinched the No. 2 job, had such a poor game against the 49ers that, suddenly, he may be in for a challenge from Mark Herrmann, or possibly a veteran culled from the waiver wire. The reserve job is critical, since the Chargers were 2-7 in games Fouts missed with injuries the past two seasons.

--Rookie offensive tackle Jim Lachey, who received a concussion Saturday and participated in only a few plays, is questionable for this week’s game, meaning he could wind up missing half of the exhibition season. Another important young blocker, Jerry Doerger, who already had a pulled hamstring, broke a finger in pregame warmups and may be out this week, as well.

--The tight end position, already severely weakened by Kellen Winslow’s knee injury, suffered another loss when reserve Bob Micho suffered a chip fracture in his foot and was declared out for several weeks. Balancing his loss, Pete Holohan is expected back this week from a foot injury.

--Reserve linebacker Vince Osby suffered a groin strain and is out for an extended period, while veteran Woody Lowe, who has a pulled hamstring, also will miss this week’s game.

--There were few positive aspects of the loss to the 49ers, and Coach Don Coryell cited a couple, including the play of defending ends Lee Williams and Keith Ferguson, each of whom made two sacks; the punting of Ralf Mojsiejenko, who averaged 50.6 yards per kick; and the play of defensive back John Hendy, who had missed much of training camp with an infection.

Naturally, the quarterbacking difficulties were a major topic of concern at Charger headquarters, which shifted from UC San Diego to San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The pass protection was substandard Saturday, which led to a decision not to risk Fouts more than one quarter and raised the harrowing prospect of what would happen if he went down for an extended period.

“With Dan having a little groin injury, it makes you anxious and makes you think ahead,” Coryell said. “You have to realize something could happen, and you must try to prepare, see what’s available.

“I would say, at this point, the backup position is still a little open. We’re going to look at Herrmann this week. Right now we have no intent to get anyone else (on waivers), and we haven’t yet decided whether to go with two or three men at quarterback.”

The Chargers must trim 10 players by 1 p.m. Tuesday, and further reduce the roster by five more players next week. Until Saturday, there had been little, if any question, that Mathison would be the No. 2 man, but now the matter is somewhat different.

Chief scout Ron Nay, a close adviser to owner Alex Spanos, said Herrmann will get a chance to play himself back into the picture, and suggested more strongly than Coryell that the Chargers will keep both eyes on the waiver list.

“We’re open to looking for a veteran quarterback,” Nay said. “After all, we’re in a production-oriented business, and Bruce (Mathison) didn’t have a very productive day Saturday.

“I think Bruce will bounce back this week, because we were very disappointed in his game Saturday. He has shown flashes of being a good quarterback, but he took a step back at San Francisco.”

Nay was asked about the decision to place so much responsibility on such a totally inexperienced quarterback as Mathison, who never started a game in college and hadn’t seen significant action since his senior year in high school.

“Responsibility? Dan Fouts is our starter, and all we’re asking Bruce to do is be the backup,” Nay said. “Somebody has to be the man. We haven’t asked him to do anything extraordinary.

“Perhaps we expected too much too soon, but he is going to get a chance to bounce back this week. Anyway, we had no choice after Ed Luther signed with the USFL. Bruce was the guy left over. We couldn’t really expect to have a big draft, sign some good players from the USFL, and then go up there and whip San Francisco.”

Moving beyond the quarterback issue and surveying the team as a whole, Nay said the San Diego high command had been quite encouraged before Saturday’s game.

“We were a little discouraged Saturday, because the players seemed a little flat,” Nay said. “I know they were probably weary from a tough training camp.

“I think it’s pretty obvious we’re still a little shallow in the offensive line and need to get some help there. We’ve also been a bit disappointed in the running of Earnest Jackson, who needs to step forward and run the way he did last year.”

The offensive line is in a state of uncertainty as the final week of the exhibition season begins. Lachey, who has earned the starting job at left tackle, was suffering from a headache Sunday and won’t be permitted to do any running until 24 hours after the headaches disappear, Coryell said.

If Lachey is OK by Wednesday, he probably could play Friday against New Orleans.

Doerger’s availability is equally uncertain. He suffered a broken finger when it became lodged in a defensive lineman’s shoulder pads during pregame warm-ups. The finger has been placed in a cast, and he won’t be able to grasp an opponent for a week or so, Coryell said.

The complete lack of continuity in the offensive line has Coryell up tight as he thinks ahead to the season opener at Buffalo on Sept. 8. Keeping Bruce Smith, Fred Smerlas and Ben Williams away from Fouts is going to be a test for the patched-together line.