Chargers : Only 3 Players Still Out of Camp; Team May Trade for Help at Linebacker

As the Blue Angels thundered overhead, the Chargers took a break from practice Saturday with Picture Day at UC San Diego.

All but three players were in camp as the Chargers prepared for their second week of workouts. Those missing are first-round draft choice Leslie O’Neal, who remains unsigned; linebacker Thomas Benson, en route from Atlanta after a trade Friday for a conditional low-round draft choice in 1987; and wide receiver Wes Chandler, excused for personal reasons, but expected for Monday’s practices.

General Manager Johnny Sanders is scheduled to meet today with O’Neal’s agent, Marvin Demoff, in an effort to resolve the player’s contract dispute.

The Chargers are known to be shopping for a proven inside linebacker, but they are not making an issue of the search, if only to prevent other teams from trying to exact too much in a possible trade.

Mike Haluchak, Charger linebackers coach, said part of his focus in this week’s practice will be to help Benson and rookies Ty Allert and Tommy Taylor make up for the time they missed last week.

Allert and Taylor were present for mini-camp and informal workouts this summer, so they have a grasp of the Chargers’ terminology and where to line up, but Benson is starting cold, Haluchak said.

“We’ll just have to be patient and put in some extra time in meetings,” he said.

Benson will be returning to inside backer, his college position at Oklahoma after moving to the outside with the Falcons.

Coach Don Coryell said quarterback Dan Fouts looks as sharp as he ever has at this stage of training camp.

Coryell also seemed pleased with the first-week showing of quarterbacks Tom Flick and Wayne Peace, who are bidding for a possible job as the backup to Fouts and Mark Herrmann. Herrmann, who was in the position of Flick and Peace a year ago before beating out Bruce Mathison, didn’t get much work last summer, but will undergo more training this year, according to Coryell.

Gary Anderson’s transition from running back to the dual role of receiver/runner has exceeded expectations, said assistant head coach Al Saunders.

Anderson was the dominant player in the first week of practice, but with the balance of the offense at camp now, the defense will be tested in new ways this week, Saunders said.