Lewis Gets Quick Start on Return Team

Nate Lewis, a big wide receiver from a little college, has been ripping it up for the Chargers on the kickoff return team.

Isn’t that right, Coach Dan Henning?

“Talk to me in November,” Henning said.

But this is 5-foot-11, 197-pound rookie. And he’s second in the AFC in returning kicks with a 25.8-yard average in five returns. A rookie . . . from Oregon Tech.

“That’s two games,” General Manager Bobby Beathard said. “Wait until the end and see where they are.”

Conclusion. A kickoff return man isn’t built in a fortnight.

Sunday at Cleveland, Lewis will attempt to close on Eric Metcalf, a darting, elusive running back who is atop the AFC with a 34.3-yard average in six returns. Metcalf went 98 yards for a touchdown last week against the Jets, which put him well ahead of Lewis in the return-average standings. Lewis returned one for a touchdown three weeks too early, swerving around the Rams for an 87-yarder in the second exhibition game.

“I wish I could count it,” he said. “It’s coming, though. One of these games I’ll break one. I’ve just got to keep working.”

That’s something he’s good at.

“Nate has taken this job very seriously,” said Larry Pasquale, the Charger special teams coach. “He knows when to run and he knows when to take whatever he can get. There are times when the hole is supposed to be there and it isn’t. He takes the extra five yards and that’s it. He comes off the field and says ‘Coach, that’s all I could get.’ And I say ‘That’s fine. You did a great job.’ ”

Because he has caught on quickly, Lewis is being loaded up with more responsibility. He serves on the kickoff coverage team, the punt team and will be worked in on more plays at wide receiver this weekend. The Chargers are hoping to find a way to take pressure off wide receiver Anthony Miller, who sees more than his share of double coverage.

Last year, Miller was used on kickoff returns to boost a special teams unit that rarely did anything right. With Lewis around, Miller can concentrate on receiving and, with help from Lewis and another rookie, Walter Wilson, he may soon have help catching passes, too.

In the meantime, for Lewis, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of returning kickoffs. Big guys, coming at you full speed ahead trying to separate your helmet from your shoulders with or without your head, whichever is more convenient.

“I don’t worry about it,” Lewis said. “Like they say, if you’re scared, don’t get back there. The guys up front do a good job. They stop that suicide feeling.”

Said Pasquale: “I think it’s sort of a combination. Nate is running the ball hard up the field. Guys are appreciating that and I think they’re giving their best effort to make it work for him. And it’s happening.”

Lewis’ journey to the NFL has been like returning a kick against 10 Pro Bowl players and King Kong. Before transferring to Oregon Tech, he played his sophomore and junior seasons at Georgia. After his junior season, he was declared academically ineligible.

After a brief stop at Western Kentucky, where he found he was ineligible to play football, he chose Oregon Tech, which had a passing offense that made full use of his talents.

He caught 27 passes for 434 yards as a senior. Not earth-shattering numbers, but impressive considering he hobbled through the season on a tender hamstring.

“He wasn’t really full speed most of the year, but he tried to play,” Greg McMackin, his coach at Oregon Tech, said. “He would go out there and compete until he would start limping, and we wouldn’t want to hurt him so we’d get him out of there.”

Now he’s back, running hard, watching films on his day off, studying the game plan and hoping by November he’ll be somebody worth talking about.