Chargers Not Ready to Use Season as Test for Next Year

Although many Chargers fans already are looking ahead to next year, General Manager Bobby Beathard said Monday there won’t be any sneak previews during the last seven games of this season.

“The first thing these coaches want to do is win,” Beathard said. “If a change will help them win, I don’t think they are against that. But winning is the most important thing.”

Beathard acknowledged that playing the younger players more is often mentioned during meetings, but he said the team’s 1-8 record does not justify wholesale experimentation.

“There comes a time, when a team realizes it’s not in the playoffs, they try to figure out what’s going to make them better in the future,” Beathard said. “But winning is first right now. We try to accomplish as much (experimenting) as we can in practice.”

Beathard said many decisions on younger players are made during practice.

“I think we have a pretty good idea about some of the young guys,” he said. “What we don’t want to do, is find out about them at the team’s expense.”

In some regards, the experimenting has already begun. Rookie defensive tackle George Thornton and third-year nose tackle Mitchell Benson are playing more each week. Third-year safety Darren Carrington is expected to get a longer look in the last seven games.

But Eric Bieniemy, second-round draft choice, still has not carried the ball. If Marion Butts stays healthy, Bieniemy may not carry it this season.

“I would like to certainly see Eric Bieniemy carry the football and show us what he can do, but in the course of a game, we don’t have that kind of evaluation on him,” Henning said. “As long as Marion Butts is healthy and fresh, we felt like he deserved that opportunity. The team deserved to have him have that opportunity”

Henning said Thornton, who played a season-high 18 snaps Sunday against Seattle, “made two or three outstanding plays.” Benson played a season-high nine snaps and Henning rated his performance as fair.

With the team out of the playoffs and looking at a fourth-consecutive losing season, Henning was asked how he will motivate his players the last seven games.

“These are professional athletes, adults,” he said. “Since Bobby came here, we have put a premium on intelligence and character.

“We’ve gotten rid of some of the lesser intelligent and less character people. When you have character and intelligence, and you appeal to those values, I think that’s why they continue to play hard and will continue to play hard.”

For the first time, Henning acknowledged that the Leslie O’Neal locker-room incident affected the team’s routine during the week.

“The other situation was a distraction during the week, but it wasn’t a distraction to the game,” he said. “It was not a distraction until Thursday. It became a distraction when it became public.”

The Chargers will not play again until Nov. 10 when they play host to Seattle.

The team had Monday off, but will practice in pads today and Wednesday. They will have a light workout Thursday before breaking for the weekend. The Chargers will return to practice Monday.

Henning said the bye week is a welcome rest.

“It’s a good break for the team right now,” he said. “We’ve gone through a lot of frustration and disappointment with the way things have gone. I would hope during the course of the week, all of them can get recharged, physically and mentally.”

Center Courtney Hall will have a magnetic resonance imaging test done on his knee today. Henning said he doesn’t think the injury is serious. Safety Anthony Shelton will be kept out of practice this weekend so his injured shoulder can heal.