PRO FOOTBALL REPORT : WEEKDAY UPDATE : CHARGERS : Injuries May Sideline Elway on Sunday

First it was Chris Chandler instead of Vinny Testaverde; now it may be Gary Kubiak instead of John Elway. The Chargers have a chance to get lucky for the second time in three games.

Two weeks ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that Testaverde wouldn’t play against the Chargers at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium because of a bad case of turf toe. The Chargers regarded this with skepticism, but Testaverde didn’t even suit up. Chandler was ineffective as the Chargers rolled to a 41-10 victory.

Now Elway has come down with the same ailment--he was hurt in the Denver Broncos’ 27-22 loss to the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night--and Bronco Coach Dan Reeves said Monday that his star quarterback might miss Sunday’s game at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Elway also has a strained arch.

“It doesn’t look good,” Reeves said. “We’ll know by the end of Thursday.”

Elway said he would try to practice on Wednesday.

Avoiding Elway could be an even bigger break for the Chargers than avoiding Testaverde. Kubiak, who replaced Elway Sunday night, turned in a woeful performance, completing only six of 14 passes and having three intercepted.

If defensive end Burt Grossman’s reaction is any indication, the Chargers are taking Elway’s problem more seriously than Testsverde’s.

“I’m glad,” Grossman said. “Testaverde played the week before, but Elway was limping pretty badly when he went out. His injury looks for real.”

The “slam-dunk” spike of a deflected pass with which offensive tackle Eric Floyd used to avert a possible interception against Seattle brought this comment from Henning:

“We’re going to nominate Pinky for the ’92 Olympics in volleyball, or farm him out in the off-season to do what Bo (Jackson) does. If we ever get an NBA team here again, he can go both ways. That was really an athletic move.”

Sunday’s game could be a sellout, but not in time to meet the Thursday deadline for lifting the television blackout.

Jack Teele, assistant to Charger President Alex Spanos, reported that the ticket sale had reached 52,500 Monday, and he projected it to reach 54,000 or 55,000 by Thursday.

Stadium capacity is 60,750, and Teele said, “We could sell out by kickoff. We normally sell 2,000 to 4,000 tickets on game day.”