Testaverde Won’t Start on Sunday

Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who has a bad case of turf toe but statistics that make him the NFC’s third-best passer, won’t start against the Chargers on Sunday at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Chris Chandler, whom Charger cornerback Donald Frank has never heard of, will start.

Why? Funny you ask. The Chargers (2-5) were wondering that, too.

“Maybe (Testaverde) is bad (his injury) and can’t play,” Coach Dan Henning said. “Maybe he’s resting. Maybe they don’t think we’re good enough. Who knows?”

Tampa Bay Coach Ray Perkins has a simple explanation. “We’re going to rest Vinny and try to get his toe well,” Perkins said. “He wasn’t going to be able to practice all week, and I just don’t think you can (not practice) and play on the level that the quarterback has to play on.

“Our training department felt like it was going to be a continuous thing all year unless we did something to try to help him get well. So this is what we’re doing.”

Which is all well and good, but not every Charger is convinced that Testaverde won’t make an appearance at some point during the game.

“You can’t really tell,” Frank said. “If Testaverde does play I wouldn’t be surprised. We’re prepared to see Testaverde.”

Said safety Martin Bayless: “I just can’t see that guy not being in there. I think Vinny will be out there.”

Testaverde or no Testaverde, the Chargers plan to be prepared for Tampa Bay (4-3).

“Maybe they don’t want him playing in this game because they’re playing San Diego,” Frank said. “But if they’re coming to play us they’re really going to have to play. We plan on winning this game. This is a must-win for us.”

Said linebacker Gary Plummer: “Hey, I hope they’re not taking us seriously. I hope they come in with the idea that it’s going to be a cakewalk.”

Chandler was told Wednesday morning before team meetings that he was the starter. Then, in an afternoon conference call, he was told that the popular opinion in San Diego was that Buccaneer coaches would call on Testaverde before the conclusion of the game.

“Well, from what I’ve been told, they probably aren’t going to,” Chandler said. “I don’t know why they’re believing that.”

Maybe it’s because turf toe doesn’t appear to be the type of injury that keeps the quarterback of a team in the playoff picture from doing his job. But then again, Charger players who have had this injury say it can greatly hinder mobility.

“It’s one of the more painful injuries,” Plummer said. “Every step that you take you have pain. Unless you’re getting some type of injection it’s very tough to play with.”

For the Chargers, who have a secondary that’s more banged up than a junkyard automobile, the timing of Testaverde’s sabbatical is perfect. Bayless is doubtful with a sprained ankle, safety Vencie Glenn is questionable with a hamstring pull and cornerback Gill Byrd is still suffering from a groin strain.

Testaverde has been hot of late. Perhaps no one is more aware of what he is capable than Charger quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver, who remembers one particularly bad shellacking his Texas Tech team took from Testaverde’s Miami, Fla., team.

“On one play, he completed a pass for a touchdown. Sixty yards,” Tolliver recalled. “It was called back because of a penalty. Third down and 20. He completed a pass for a touchdown. Seventy yards. Called back for holding. Third down and 30. He completes a pass 80 yards for a touchdown.”

And that time it was a touchdown.

Sunday, at least in the beginning, we will see Chandler, a quarterback who started against the Chargers once, in 1988 while with Indianapolis. The Colts won, 16-0, and Chandler completed nine of 17 for 123 yards despite three interceptions.

Henning, for one, isn’t counting on the quarterback change to help the Chargers.

“(It) won’t help us,” he said. “We’ve got to help ourselves.”