McMahon Gets an Early Start Against 49ers
So much for crash courses. Former Chicago Bear Jim McMahon was calling audibles at Charger practice Tuesday.
And, said Charger Coach Dan Henning, “he didn’t miss a one.”
McMahon, who turned 30 Monday after turning Charger Friday, will start at quarterback against the defending NFL-champion 49ers this evening in Candlestick Park. Game time is 6 p.m. Show time, the Chargers hope, will be shortly thereafter.
McMahon played four downs in the Chargers’ surprising 24-7 victory over the Bears Saturday in Chicago. He handed off once, completed one pass to Barry Redden, underthrew Anthony Miller on a bomb and watched Miller drop a medium-length pass on the next play.
Rookie Billy Joe Tolliver took it from there and threw touchdown passes of 39 and 70 yards. Tolliver will replace McMahon again this evening. But according to Henning, he might have to wait two quarters instead of four plays. David Archer, the Chargers’ third quarterback, probably won’t play at all.
McMahon’s gift has always been his ability to read defenses. It begins, he says, with a check (after the snap) on the free safety. After that, it’s a high-speed chess game--offensive players trying to beat defensive players to a spot. When he has been healthy, McMahon has won more of these things than he has lost.
But he is still learning Henning’s terminology. And nobody in the Charger organization has yet explained satisfactorily why McMahon--a passer of medium arm strength--should be able to do the things the Chargers will want him to do in an offense designed for a strong-armed thrower.
Both teams will be playing their second game in five days. The 49ers have won two of three exhibition games. The Chargers are 1-1 and will try to keep it simple for McMahon.
“I don’t know if he (McMahon) will need too many plays,” said George Seifert, the 49ers’ first-year coach.
Meanwhile, McMahon’s arrival has taken much of the spotlight off the continued absence of unsigned running back Gary Anderson. Anderson led the Chargers in rushing last year and was the team’s most valuable player.
But, said Henning Tuesday, “at this point in time I have to take the position that Gary Anderson won’t be here (for the season opener against the Raiders Sept. 10). So that makes the running back position a complicated mix for us.”
Former Redskin Timmy Smith, runner-up in the Super Bowl MVP voting two years ago, will get his first chance to uncomplicate the mix against the 49ers. Smith, who has suffered through an ankle injury during much of training camp, hasn’t carried the ball in either of the Chargers’ first two exhibition games.
“This is an important game for us,” Henning said. “Even coming off the other night with only a couple of days’ work, these guys know that there’s a lot on the line. They feel like they played well the other night, on the road against a good football team. They’ve got another shot at the same thing.”
The Chargers’ defense will get its best test of the exhibition season. The 49ers finished second in the league in total offense last year. Joe Montana will start at quarterback, but backup Steve Young is expected to play most of the game.
Defensive coordinator Ron Lynn’s unit has limited the Chargers’ first two opponents to one offensive touchdown each. But two important pieces are missing: nose tackle Joe Phillips and rookie defensive end Burt Grossman, neither of whom has attended one practice this summer.
Phillips is an unsigned free agent. Grossman is an unsigned No. 1 draft choice.
“Those guys need to get here,” Lynn said. “And I’m putting it on them for us to get where we want to be.”
Lynn has said all along the key to the Chargers’ defense this year will be keeping the talented players healthy. Their numbers are limited. But Henning said he liked what he saw from the understudies in the Bear game.
“The entire second group that went in in the second half played pretty darn good on defense,” Henning said.
Henning also said it will be important for non-starters to perform well on special teams against the 49ers. It’s getting to the point where his coaching staff must begin thinking about roster cuts. The Chargers have to reduce their roster from 80 to 60 by next Tuesday. The Chargers don’t play again until Sept. 1 at Phoenix in their exhibition finale.
Charger Notes
The Chargers continue to close in on signing defensive end Burt Grossman, their No. 1 draft choice and the eighth selection of the first round. “We’re close. We’re trying. We’ve been talking all day,” Robert Jackson, Grossman’s agent, said Tuesday. Part of the reason they’re getting closer is the Friday signing of running back Tim Worley by the Steelers. Worley was the seventh player selected in the draft and signed for a reported $3.05 million over five years. “That signing had an impact,” Jackson said. “But we’re still evaluating the significance of Worley’s numbers.” . . . Running back Gary Anderson remains unsigned. Sources close to Anderson say his agents are still waiting to hear back from the Chargers in response to an offer they made nine days ago. . . . Charger offensive lineman Larry Williams, who has been nursing a shoulder injury from last season, is still not ready to play in a game. . . . Vince Abbott and Steve (Toe) DeLine, two of the Chargers’ three competing kickers, will share duties tonight against the 49ers. Charger Coach Dan Henning said Abbott will handle any field goal attempts and DeLine will kick off. . . . San Francisco holdout linebacker Charles Haley signed Tuesday, but will not play against the Chargers.