CHARGER NOTEBOOK / DON PATTERSON : Henning’s in a Quandary at Quarterback

After four exhibition games, the Charger quarterback situation is more foggy than ever.

Take your pick: Mark Vlasic, who has started two regular-season games in his career, or Billy Joe Tolliver, who has started five.

Charger Coach Dan Henning will make his selection later this week, but he isn’t saying which direction he’s leaning. He did say that the decision has become difficult because of Vlasic’s improvement during the exhibition season. Tolliver has been steady but unspectacular.

“I don’t think (Tolliver) has (slipped),” Henning said. “I think Vlasic has come up.”

That makes it a sticky situation, considering the plan from the beginning was to prepare Tolliver as the starter. Time is running out. The Chargers open the regular season Sunday at Dallas. Vlasic made his only start of exhibition season Saturday in the Chargers’ 34-7 loss to the Raiders at the Coliseum, and Tolliver relieved him in the second half.

Neither quarterback played well or poorly enough to distinguish themselves. Vlasic threw a perfect 69-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Anthony Miller and finished eight of 14 for 169 yards. Tolliver managed only five completions in 16 attempts for 95 yards, but with repeated breakdowns on the offensive line, it wasn’t necessarily a good indication of his abilities.

“Both of them are going to struggle if we have the same type of situation we had (Saturday),” Henning said. “It’s very difficult to evaluate that situation under the conditions.”

So this could possibly be a “quarterback du jour” season?

“I would be comfortable with either one of them starting in the opening game,” Henning said. “If we were playing different teams down the road that called for different possibilities, maybe one would start over another.”

Well, at least linebacker Junior Seau isn’t in danger of suffering from burnout. First, the Chargers’ top draft pick took a little vacation in Cancun, Mexico, while the final details of his five-year, $4.525 million contract were ironed out, and then Saturday, in his first professional start, he departed early. He played exactly two defensive downs before being thrown out for taking a few swipes at Raider guard Steve Wisniewski.

What’s next? Henning isn’t sure. He said it is impossible to determine what Seau is capable of doing in a game situation based on what he has seen so far.

“Got to go with a gut feeling there,” he said. “He played very well on special teams. That doesn’t mean that you can line up and play defense. The thing you worry about is not the ability, it’s the mental part.”

Henning isn’t overly concerned.

“He’ll be a good player,” Henning said. “How quickly has been greatly slowed down due to the extent of the contract negotiations and the fact that he basically missed this game.”

All NFL teams are required to cut their rosters from 60 to 47 by 9 a.m. (PDT) today.

The Charger coaching staff met at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on Sunday night to make final decisions on who will stay and who will go. Henning said the Chargers are still considering trade possibilities, but he doesn’t think there is potential for anything “major.”

Charger Notes

Tackle Joel Patten (knee), tight end Arthur Cox (back) and tackle Leo Goeas (foot) are all candidates for injured reserve, which would require them to miss the first four games of the season. Coach Dan Henning said Goeas has the best chance to stay active, and Patten and Cox’s chances are about 50-50 . . . Saturday’s loss was similar to the beating the Chargers took from the Raiders at the beginning of last season. The difference was that it was in the first week of the regular season rather than the last exhibition game. Last year, the Raiders won, 40-14, and had possession of the ball for 38:01. They topped that Saturday with a 40:18 time of possession.