‘D-Rock’ Not as Solid as He Had Expected : Mistakes: Bobbled pass, fumbled punt lead to 10 Seattle points and leave rookie Brinson hurting.

The throbbing in Dana Brinson’s right shoulder left the animated Charger who goes by the nickname “D-Rock” wincing in pain.

“It hurts,” Brinson said through clenched teeth. “It’s numb.”

But as unforgiving as the burning in his shoulder was, it could not compare to the hurt from his bruised ego and wounded pride.

Brinson, a rookie from Nebraska, wanted to make his contribution in place of injured H-back Rod Bernstine (knee) one to remember. Instead it turned into one he will not forget.

Brinson fumbled a punt that led to a Seattle touchdown. He bobbled a pass that the Seahawks intercepted, eventually resulting in a Seattle field goal. And he spent the final three minutes of a 17-16 loss to the Seahawks at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on the sideline after a hit aggravated the shoulder he bruised the week before against Denver.

“It was one of those days that I don’t want to look back on,” Brinson said. “I can only blame myself.”

To say Brinson’s mistakes cost the Chargers the game would be unfair. As Coach Dan Henning said, his team made enough errors in the fourth quarter alone to lose two games.

But while pinpointing who was to blame for a blocked field goal or extra point can be an exacting task, Brinson’s mistakes were out in the open for all to see . . . and boo.

The first blunder came on the Chargers’ second possession. Brinson was open near the left sideline for a short pass. Jim McMahon’s throw was on the mark, but while Brinson’s feet kept moving, his hands bobbled the ball, once, twice, three times. The third bounce fell into the grasp of inside linebacker Darren Comeaux at the Charger 44.

“I went to turn up field, and I lost the ball over my shoulder,” Brinson said. “The guy was right there, and he pretty much just took it off my shoulder.”

The interception led to Norm Johnson’s 50-yard field goal and a 10-7 Seahawk lead.

The next error proved even more costly.

The Charger defense had forced the Seahawks to punt on their first possession of the second half. Brinson stood at his own 10 to receive the ball with instructions to let it go if it carried beyond the 10.

But just as he was set to field the punt, the ball took a dive.

“It was a real high punt,” Brinson said. “It was coming down with a backspin, and it was fading away. It’s one of the most difficult punts to catch. I just misjudged it.

“I was too deep into it. There was no way I could pull back. My feet were set to catch the ball, and I couldn’t step up. It just faded and hit off the tip of my fingers.”

Seattle strong safety Nesby Glasgow recovered at the Charger 16. Three player later, fullback John Williams was standing in the end zone with a six-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dave Krieg for a 17-10 Seattle lead.

“Not my best outing,” Brinson said in sober summary.

The game was supposed to be Brinson’s best chance so far to showcase his speed and talent in the National Football League. The results were modest compared to the expectations.

“This was a dream come true, to get as much playing time as I wanted,” Brinson said. “But things did not go right.”

Brinson carried three times for nine yards, caught three passes for 15 yards and returned three punts for eight yards. Those nine touches totaled 32 yards, not nearly enough to make up for the mistakes.

“The only way you can block them out is to make the play, make something happen, score a touchdown or get your team in position to score a touchdown,” Brinson said. “Sometimes when that happens, things just continue to go bad because your are trying so hard to do something positive.”