CHARGERS : Novak Skips Camp, Seeks Chance to Play

Offensive guard Jeff Novak, the Chargers’ seventh-round draft choice in 1990, left training camp Sunday at UC San Diego because he didn’t think he was being given an opportunity to make the team.

“I didn’t want to be at a camp where I felt I was busting my butt for nothing,” Novak said from his home in Austin, Tex.

Novak was one of the Chargers’ last cuts last year, but was re-signed by the Chargers in June as a free agent.

He started eight games this season for the Montreal Machine in the World League of American Football.

“I thought I’d have an opportunity to make the club,” said Novak, 6-feet-6, 298 pounds. “I really wanted to go back into the NFL. But I think they already had their mind made up. With Broderick Thompson and Leo Goeas and Harry Swayne already there, I could see what they were going to do.

“Once the vets came in, I started to evaluate the situation. I got to the point where I was going to be one of their numbers.”

Assistant general manager Dick Daniels said that was not true.

‘We didn’t bring him back here for that,” Daniels said. “He needed seasoning and maturity. I’m sorry he would feel that way about it. He was working as hard as ever, and he showed he got stronger.”

Novak said none of the coaching staff ever told him he wasn’t in the team’s plans, but he could sense what they were thinking.

“I can’t explain it,” he said. “You know how people who are going to be part of the equation are treated. none of the coaches ever said anything to me. I could tell what was up.”

Novak played only two years of football at Southwest Texas State before the Chargers drafted him.

“I felt like last year I was going to be on the developmental squad,” he said. “This year, I didn’t want to wait around for six weeks and then have them release me.”

Novak said he planned to finish school this year and play for a WLAF team next year.

Will he try to win a NFL roster spot next season?

“If somebody is going to pay me $3,000 to sign and be a number in camp, forget it,” he said.

Novak’s departure cleared a spot for guard Eric Moten, a rookie from Michigan State.

Moten was a second-round choice this year. The Chargers acquired the pick from Washington in exchange for a first-round pick in 1992. In that deal, the Chargers also acquired Washington’s fifth-round pick in 1992.

“I feel like people are watching me, but I don’t feel the pressure,” said Moten, who weighed in at 300 pounds. “I felt a little rusty out there, but it was my first day back in pads in a while.”

The holdout of Marion Butts and the impressive early showings of rookies Eric Bieniemy and Chris Samuels have made Rod Bernstine the forgotten running back.

For now, that’s fine with Bernstine.

“I think they deserve the attention,” Bernstine said after Sunday afternoon’s practice. “Eric has shown he can play and Samuels caught my eye right away.”

But Bernstine realizes that the longer Butts stays away from camp, the better chance he has of getting to play.

“It’s not a situation where I don’t want Marion in camp, but I realize it helps me,” Bernstine said. “I thought Marion and I worked well together last year as a 1-2 combination.”

And if Butts holds out past the exhibitions?

“If he’s not here in Game One, hopefully, we won’t miss him,” Bernstine said. “I’d be doubting my ability if I said we’d miss him.”

Although he understands Butts’ situation, Bernstine said he is not about to feel sorry for him.

“No one’s actually treated fairly,” he said. “I was a No. 1 draft choice and I’ve been in the league four years without ever really starting. He’s a No. 7 draft choice and he started almost right away. I guess everybody deserves something.”

Even if Bernstine earned the starting running back job in Butts’ absence, many wonder if he could stay healthy long enough to keep it.

A No. 1 draft choice in 1987, Bernstine has yet to play a full season without getting injured. He played a career-high 14 games in 1988 before a knee injury ended his season.

Last season, Bernstine gained a career-high 589 yards in 124 carries, but he missed four games due to a hamstring injury.

Bernstine says he can already hear what the skeptics are saying.

“I know people think I’m fragile,” he said. “But I feel I can go out and do anything. I haven’t felt this good since my second year. This year I’d like to think will be a coming-out party for me.”

How much of a workload can Bernstine, 6-feet-3, 238 pounds, handle?

“Twenty carries is not a problem,” he said. “When you get in that 30 range . . . it’s tough.”

Bobby Beathard expects defensive end George Hinkle to sign today. When he does, the Chargers will have to let another player go.

Beathard appeared to be getting closer to signing No. 1 pick Stanley Richard, a safety out of Texas, but said he hadn’t heard from Richards in a couple days.

“I can’t imagine I won’t hear from him (today),” Beathard said.

Coach Dan Henning says he has not picked a No. 2 quarterback yet, but he said John Friesz came out of Saturday’s scrimmage against the Rams looking better than Bob Gagliano.