McMahon May Make His Way to Bench Sunday
The honeymoon between quarterback Jim McMahon and the Chargers may be nearing an end.
Only time will tell if the one-game rest McMahon will probably get next Sunday in Seattle should be classified as a benching or a breather.
Only time will tell if the ankle, knee and shoulder injuries McMahon has been nursing will heal fast enough for him to be the quarterback the Chargers expected him to be this season when they acquired him from Chicago last August.
And only time will tell if the 30-year-old McMahon, who has missed 35 regular-season games to injury in the past six years, is permanently-damaged goods, over-the-hill or both.
For now, this much is certain: Charger Coach Dan Henning will probably start either David Archer or rookie Billy Joe Tolliver against the Seahawks. Tolliver is the early favorite.
After the Chargers’ 20-13 loss to the Giants Sunday, several Giants said they noticed a reluctance on McMahon’s part to deal with physical contact.
“McMahon just didn’t want to get hit today,” New York defensive end Leonard Marshall said.
Henning didn’t disagree Monday afternoon. “I didn’t think that Jim played as good a game as he’s played in some of the others,” Henning said. “He got out of there (the pocket) a couple of times a little earlier than I would have liked to have seen him get out. And he might have been subconsciously thinking about taking a hit on that (left) shoulder.
“A little bit of that could have been his body speaking to him. That doesn’t seem to be in his make-up on a conscious level. It’s just the fact that he is banged up. And if we do decide to do something there, it would be based on all those factors.”
McMahon completed 12 of 27 passes for 133 yards against the Giants, threw one interception and was sacked once. All eight passes McMahon threw in the fourth quarter were incomplete. Henning said the shoulder is the most serious of McMahon’s three listed injuries.
McMahon has been on the injury list the Chargers must report to the league office every week before each of the team’s last six games.
The Chargers activated Tolliver Saturday but didn’t play him against the Giants. Tolliver was the Chargers’ most productive passer in the exhibition season with four touchdown passes in five quarters of the last two games before breaking his left collarbone against Phoenix. Team doctors say the bone has fully healed.
“Somewhere along the line I’d like to find a way to get Billy Joe Tolliver some work and see what he’s all about,” Henning said. “He was playing well in preseason. I believe now that Billy’s been able to come up (from injured reserve) it puts the (quarterback) position in a much more reliable state.”
Henning stopped short of naming Tolliver next Sunday’s starter. He wouldn’t even admit that McMahon won’t start. But a source close to McMahon said McMahon expects to be rested against Seattle and that one of the reasons is the artificial turf of the Seattle Kingdome.
“There is a consideration here that we find out about Billy Joe Tolliver sometime before this season’s over in regular-season play,” Henning said. “Now the question comes up: When do you do that? If I feel like we can continue to be efficient and maintain the opportunities to be in the ball game and have a chance to win and still utilize Billy Joe Tolliver, I would probably go in that direction. If I don’t feel that way, then we’ll stay with Jim McMahon.”
Henning gave the players Monday and Tuesday off to recover from injuries that have crippled the entire offense. He said he wanted to see Wednesday how McMahon was responding to medical treatment he received Monday and was scheduled to receive today.
If Tolliver plays, he will offer the Charger offense a healthier body and a stronger arm. His mobility and McMahon’s are about equal. McMahon obviously has more experience, but not that much more in Henning’s system.
Meanwhile, the Chargers are 2-5 and have lost three in a row.
Henning said they have not abandoned hope of making the playoffs. But he admitted the only way they will probably qualify is by winning the division. At 2-5, a wild card berth for the Chargers is more a dream than a reality. So, too, may be thoughts of overtaking first-place Denver (6-1), which already has a four-game lead over the Chargers and a 16-10 victory over them.
“It is my belief that they (Denver) will come back to the pack,” Henning said. “And for us to have a chance, we have to be at the top of that pack.”
Meanwhile, McMahon has begun repeating the pattern he started in Chicago with regards to explaining his thoughts publicly. The worse his injuries were there, the less he talked about them.
“Jim doesn’t trust the media,” said his agent, Steve Zucker, Monday. “Why talk when you’re going to get bum-rapped? Why not just stay away?”
If Tolliver starts and plays well, McMahon may finally get his wish--nobody will bother him with questions about his injuries. No one will care.
Charger Notes
The knee injury Charger defensive end Burt Grossman suffered Sunday wasn’t as bad Monday as originally thought. “He, himself, the doctors and the trainers might have been overreacting,” said Charger Coach Dan Henning. “He feels pretty good. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.” . . . Running back Marion Butts hyperflexed his knee, which means, according to Henning, “He got it pushed underneath him.” A hyperflexion is much easier to recover from than a hyperextension. . . . Former Charger linebacker Chip Banks started and received a game ball in Sunday’s Indianapolis victory over Cincinnati. The Chargers traded Banks to the Colts Tuesday.