PRO FOOTBALL REPORT WEEKDAY UPDATE : CHARGERS : Wilson Supplants Early in the Starting Lineup

A late arrival to the starting lineup has made for an Early exit.

Quinn Early lasted one game as a starting Charger receiver before giving way to rookie Walter Wilson, a third-round draft selection from East Carolina who started for the first time in Sunday’s 21-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Why the switch? “Because I think he is better than the guy that was starting,” Charger Coach Dan Henning said.

And that was Early. So for now, and maybe forever, Early is out. Early’s speed, or lack thereof, has been a concern of the Chargers. It isn’t that he’s slow, but he hasn’t demonstrated an ability to take the elusive steps necessary to separate himself from defenders.

He also didn’t help his cause in the season-opening loss to Dallas.

“I think I made a couple of mistakes against Dallas, mistakes that I shouldn’t have made,” said Early, who started six games last season. “I guess they just wanted to try something different. I don’t know what to say about it. I just have to take my role and do the best I can.”

Wilson will do the same and, in the process, attempt to improve on his past two performances, which have included some drops,

“I’m a little disappointed that he dropped a couple of passes in these first two games,” Henning said. “But I think he’ll get passed that. I don’t think he’ll do that after a while.”

What was all the shouting about? On the path to Sunday’s loss, Gunther Cunningham, the Charger defensive line coach, and linebacker Junior Seau could be seen airing out their vocal chords in each other’s direction on the sideline.

Seau’s version: “We were just saying ‘Hi’ to each other.”

Cunningham’s slightly more enlightening version: “I told him to get off the field.”

And, said Cunningham, Seau responded with a “Gosh darn it, coach, I’m trying.” Or something to that effect.

Afterward, both shared a laugh about it.

“I said ‘That’s one of the things I like about you,’ ” Cunningham said. “It shows he’s a man. If they’re afraid of me, what the hell are they going to do with the 300-pound guys that are blocking them?”

H-back Joe Caravello, who caught the first touchdown pass of his four-year NFL career Sunday, kept the ball. He figured he had better. “Probably take me four years to get another one,” he said. . . . Rookie cornerback Donald Frank, who was scorched by Bengal receiver Eddie Brown for Sunday’s game-winning touchdown, is finding it isn’t as easy to get away with momentary mental vacations as it was at Winston-Salem State last season. “When I was in college, you could slip through and let up sometimes,” he said. “Here you can’t do that. I think I need to start concentrating the whole 60 minutes. Once I can concentrate the whole 60 minutes, I’ll be a lot better football player than I am now.” . . . Defensive end Lee Williams, a Pro Bowl starter the past two seasons, got more than his share of double-teaming against the Bengals, and more than Cunningham has ever seen used against him. As a result, Williams was held without a sack. “He was discouraged, but also encouraged at the same time,” Cunningham said. “When your opponent respects you that much to change their whole blocking scheme, that’s got to feel good.”