Backed Into a Corner : With Jobs on Line, It’s Obvious Chargers Feel Need to Make Something Happen

Dan Fouts takes his beatings and never complains. Well, almost never.

The Charger quarterback absorbed an unmerciful pounding by the Los Angeles Raiders in a 34-21 loss Monday night. Following the game, Fouts paid tribute to the Raiders by calling their pass rush the best he had ever seen.

He was more than a little taken aback the next morning when he read some comments by defensive lineman Howie Long, who said Fouts had taken out his frustrations during the long night by yelling at his blockers.

Not so, Fouts said Thursday. Long must have been hearing things.

“I wouldn’t scream at my blockers,” Fouts said. “I know they’re doing the best they can. I love the way those guys fight for me.”

The fighting in the pits is important, but there’s a larger battle going on. As the Chargers head into the second half of the season, the beleaguered offensive line, plus every other component of the team, faces the fight of its football life.

Hanging in the balance is the job of Don Coryell, who needs a dramatic turnabout from the 3-5 record of the first half in order to return as coach.

Fouts, no doubt, will supply the blood-and-guts leadership, along with whatever passing wizardry survives in his battered frame.

“I’m optimistic,” Fouts said. “We have the talent. But we have to learn how to win, which means rising to the challenge, doing whatever it takes in third-down situations or with the game on the line. And we have to come up with a better effort than we’ve given.”

The quarterback said the players don’t pay attention to the speculation about Coryell’s future.

“We’re pretty sheltered,” Fouts said. “The only time we hear about (Coryell’s job status) is when the press brings it up.”

Monday night’s debacle has been put out of mind, at least until the Raiders reappear on the schedule, which happens to be next Sunday. Fouts, whose team plays host to Denver this week, said he believes a playoff spot is still within reach.

“We can’t afford to lose many more games,” he said. “We all know that. There was a positive feeling going into the Raider game, and we have to rally and come up with that same feeling. Players are pretty resilient and bounce back faster than people think.”

Fouts seemed to caution against expecting the offense to suddenly mesh its assorted talents and regularly begin producing huge numbers.

“It’s in the nature of football that teamwork takes time,” he said. “To really put all the parts together takes a year of mini-camps and training camp, a whole process of growing and getting used to each other.”

The Chargers do not have the luxury of time. They must produce now, in the next two months.

Indications are that owner Alex Spanos, an impatient man who abhors excuses, will take drastic measures if the Chargers don’t finish 8-8 or better. A new coaching staff and another purge of players loom as distinctly possible if the record doesn’t turn around in November and December. The team had a hint of that possibility earlier in the season when popular defensive coach Tom Bass was fired.

Coryell appears almost resigned to an uphill struggle. When asked if he feels backed into a corner, Coryell smiled and said, almost cheerfully, “I think that’s pretty obvious. We have to make something good happen. Nobody can do it for us. We have to do it ourselves.

“Of course, the first year I was here (1978) we won seven of our last eight games.”

Coryell was reminded that the 1978 team included defensive players such as Fred Dean, Louie Kelcher and Gary Johnson, plus an offense that was just coming into its own as the best in pro football. It was obvious he had forgotten none of those things.

In assessing the possibilities of his current team, Coryell mingled hope with realism.

“Our players have made progress,” he said, “but the won-loss record has been a disappointment, and that’s what is important. The players are working their tails off and there’s no question this will be a good team, but we’re all disappointed in the record.”

There are no Fred Deans on the ’85 roster, but Coryell said he believes the defense is improving. What he didn’t mention was that, after a brief upsurge under new defensive coordinator Dave Adolph, the San Diego defense has slipped to its familiar spot, last in the NFL in total defense.

“We were coming along, but then we fell down against the Raiders,” Coryell said. “They were on fire and we couldn’t stand up to them that night.

“I think our line and our defensive backs are improved, but you have to remember that four of the top six DBs are rookies and the other two are third-year men.”

While inexperience is a problem on defense that won’t be cleared up this year, a related problem--lack of familiarity with teammates and the system--haunts the offense.

“Having Tim Spencer and Gary Anderson will pay off in the future,” Coryell said. “But, heck, it’s tough on Gary right now. For us to use him to his best advantage is going to take time.

“Kellen (Winslow) needs time, too. He’s just working back into things. This is really just like the third week of training camp for him and he’s aching. He’s not the Kellen he used to be yet. He will be, but he isn’t there yet.”

There’s a not-too-subtle plea for patience--for just a little more time--in these remarks.

One man who has pretty much found a way to fight a standoff with time is offensive guard Ed White, who is in his 17th season. His prescription for curing what ails the Chargers is deceptively simple: a more relaxed approach.

“We have the talent to still get to the playoffs,” White said. “Personally, I’d like to see things a little looser around here. We were too tight in Los Angeles. We should stress being relaxed. We need to have a little fun at this game.

“It’s true that we slipped Monday night, and I’m disappointed we’re not at .500 right now. I think we’d all have been happy with that. But I don’t know if we feel any added pressure. Heck, nearly half the players on last year’s team lost their jobs. The pressure is always there, but you can’t think about it all the time.”

It wasn’t a response to White’s call for a more relaxed approach that caused it, but the coaches have scaled back on the amount of contact in practice, a move applauded by linebacker Billy Ray Smith.

“We needed for things to slacken up,” he said. “It’s hard to be at a high level of intensity for two days of hitting in practice at this stage of the season.”

Smith said he hasn’t noticed any abrupt signs of stress among the coaches, but he realizes the stakes are high.

“It’s definitely time to get things squared away and get it right,” he said. “We have to, if we’re going to start winning the close ones and finish with a .500 record.” Chargers Midseason Rankings

OFFENSE

Total offense--4th (371.4 yards per game average)

Passing--1st (286.8 yards per game)

Rushing--26th (84.6 yards per game)

DEFENSE

Total defense--28th (397.3 yards per game)

Passing--26th (262.1 yards per game)

Rushing--21st (135.1 yards per game)