PRO FOOTBALL : Charger Notebook : Length of Rehabilitation for O’Neal Uncertain

Will Charger defensive end Leslie O’Neal be named rookie of the year?

After O’Neal suffered a torn medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on a fall during the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Colts, that question has been replaced by a far more serious one.

When will the Chargers’ first-round draft choice out of Oklahoma State be able to play again?

O’Neal will undergo reconstructive surgery on his left knee--tentatively scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at Sharp Memorial Hospital--and will miss the final three games this season.

According to Charger team physician Dr. Gary Losse, “It could be a one-year recovery period.”

Losse said O’Neal’s injury did not have anything to do with a previous knee problem and that it is very similar to the injury suffered by tight end Kellen Winslow against the Raiders on Oct. 21, 1984. Winslow was out of football for a year.

O’Neal may be able to start his rehabilitation a week after the operation, but it will be six months before he can run, Losse said.

O’Neal, who has 81 tackles and is second in the American Football Conference in sacks with 12 1/2, fell over teammate Woodrow Lowe on a run by Colt halfback Albert Bentley.

“I was going out to my right and somebody’s body just swung around,” said O’Neal, who didn’t learn that he had been tentatively scheduled for surgery until he was informed by reporters as the game was ending. “It happened so fast.”

And it happened while O’Neal was not wearing a knee brace for the first time this season.

“That’s frustrating,” Losse said. “In no way can I say that if he wore his brace the injury would have been prevented. But we would hope the brace would stop the tear.”

Losse said he recommends that linemen wear braces. So does Charger Coach Al Saunders, who said he didn’t know the reason why O’Neal wasn’t wearing a knee brace.

“It’s not a required thing for anybody,” Saunders said. “In a court of law, you can’t force a player to wear a protective piece of material. But I recommend it. . . .

“It’s quite a severe injury from what I understand.”

Charger offensive tackle Jim Lachey, forced to leave Sunday’s game in the third quarter with a pulled left hamstring, will be examined today.