PRO FOOTBALL REPORT : WEEKDAY UPDATE : CHARGERS : Grossman, O’Neal Get Mid-Week Sacks

The Chargers learned Thursday that the NFL’s official scorer had granted their petition and awarded defenders Burt Grossman and Leslie O’Neal an additional sack each from Sunday’s game with the Cowboys.

The sack-happy team had been credited with three Sunday in Dallas. But upon league review of game videotape, it was determined O’Neal had also run Troy Aikman out of bounds as he prepared to pass, and Grossman had stopped him while he tried to escape up the middle.

“We just found out about it this morning, and you could tell it pumped up the guys,” said Gunther Cunningham, the defensive line coach. “These guys play hard, and you’ve got to take care of your players. They need some sugar on top of everything, and it’s certainly a great motivator when you start putting the numbers up on the board.”

Each of the defensive linemen carries an incentive clause in his contract calling for a bonus if he leads the team in sacks.

“It’s a conspiracy by Leslie, Burt and Gunther to take the title away from me,” said a joking Lee Williams, who led the AFC with 14 sacks a year ago. “But I will prevail as I always do. They know it. This won’t be a Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas II; I won’t be upset.”

With the additional sack, however, O’Neal took the early team lead with two, followed by Grossman, linebacker Henry Rolling and Williams with one each.

In the opener, linebacker Junior Seau stood on the sideline for the first four plays and then came on to join the first defensive unit for the remainder of the game.

Sunday, there will be no wait.

“Junior is our inside linebacker,” Henning said. “He’s playing better than anybody else and with high intensity.”

And what does that mean for Cedric Figaro, who had started 20 of the team’s past 23 games at that inside linebacker post?

“That means he’s not playing well with high intensity,” Henning said.

Fourth-year pro Craig McEwen, who caught his first career touchdown pass last week, is presently tied with running back Marion Butts for the team’s scoring leadership.

“If I win the scoring title, something must be seriously wrong,” said McEwen, an H-back. “They must be triple-teaming Anthony Miller to come to me for all that.”

McEwen took a short swing pass from Mark Vlasic and weaved his way in for a 14-yard score. Local seismographs might well have measured his mighty spike on the end zone.

“Shoot, I was excited,” McEwen said. “My girlfriend said she started jumping up and down on the bed and she knocked her head on the dresser she got so excited.

“In the interests of protecting my girlfriend’s good health, I think I’ll get to the one- or two-yard line this week and then look to lateral it to either Miller or Butts.”