Charger Notebook : Injuries Might Put More Pressure on Defense

The Chargers, who already have enough problems, might be without two more of their best defensive players for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

Coach Al Saunders said Tuesday that linebacker Billy Ray Smith and nose tackle Mike Charles, both injured in the first quarter against the Raiders, are doubtful for Sunday’s game in Denver.

The Charger defense already is handicapped by the absence of holdout linebacker Chip Banks.

Saunders said the team won’t know until the end of the week if Smith, who has a calf injury, can play.

“We don’t want him going into a game not at full strength,” Saunders said.

Charles, who has an injured knee, is less likely to play than Smith. Neither player will practice until the end of the week, if at all.

Where is Chip Banks?

Harold Daniels, Banks’ agent, said Tuesday he thinks Banks has left his home in Atlanta, but he’s not sure where he has gone.

Daniels said a man who works for him is in Atlanta looking for the linebacker but hasn’t been able to find him, leading the agent to believe Banks is elsewhere.

“If we can find him, I want to tell him that this offer the Chargers have made won’t ever come along again,” Daniels said. “I talked to Bobby Beathard (the Redskins’ general manager), and he said the word’s getting around that nobody wants Chip.”

During Sunday’s telecast of the Charger-Raider game in Los Angeles, NBC color commentator Jimmy Cefalo mentioned several times that the young Charger receivers were making it tough on quarterback Babe Laufenberg by running downfield while Laufenberg scrambled.

“You’re supposed to come back to the quarterback when he’s scrambling,” said Cefalo, a former receiver with the Miami Dolphins.

But Saunders said his young receivers did a good job and did as they were told.

Coming into the Raider game, Anthony Miller, Quinn Early, Jamie Holland and Darren Flutie had caught a total of six passes in the NFL. Against the Raiders, they caught 11, including one by Holland for a touchdown.

“We can get a lot of our offense when Babe is flushed out of the pocket,” Saunders said. “Our guys did a good job of getting open and I think we can a lot of big plays out Babe’s scrambling ability.”

It was 105 degrees Sunday, but Saunders wore a long-sleeved shirt and tie.

Some wondered how in the name of heat Saunders could do it.

“I’m not superstitious,” Saunders said with a grin and a wink. “But that was the same shirt and tie I wore last year when we beat them.”