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Quarterback Drama Takes Strange Turn

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You just knew how this game would go, what with the San Francisco 49ers in town for a dress rehearsal with the Chargers.

The backup quarterback would have a fine game replacing the injured starter and then another quarterback would come off the bench and play nicely as well.

You knew this because those 49ers are loaded with quarterbacks. They lose Joe Montana and they still throw Steve Young and Steve Bono at you. They even have Bill Musgrave sitting there getting musty.

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I have to tell you, though, that this game took a little bit of an unexpected twist. The Chargers, who are perceived to have such a void at quarterback that they should probably run the single-wing, got solid play from their guys backing up the injured John Friesz.

Indeed, if Bob Gagliano and Stan Humphries play as well next week against the Rams as they did Friday night against the 49ers, the Chargers might even have a quarterback controversy.

Wouldn’t that be ironic?

Only two weeks ago, it was a matter of who in the world could play the position. Now, it’s getting to be more along the lines of who should play the position.

Not that the Chargers went out and pounded the 49ers. They managed to come from ahead to lose, 20-14, when San Francisco scored two touchdowns in the final 3:43. However, those touchdowns came during garbage time, when reserves were doing battle with reserves for spots on the fringes of rosters.

When Messrs. Gagliano and Humphries had completed their nights of work, a little less than five minutes remained to be played in the third quarter and the Chargers were on top, 14-6, thank you.

Surely, these guys were not reminding anyone of Bart Starr or Johnny Unitas or, for heaven’s sake, Dan Fouts, but they weren’t exactly Mark Malone or Babe Laufenberg either. No one in the crowd of 40,921 said boo to either one of these guys, and you know how quarterbacks are treated here.

If it makes any difference, Gagliano was the starter. He played splendidly within himself on the two series he directed. He did not come out with any flash and dash, just solid football. The Chargers should have scored on both his drives, but for John Carney missing a 38-yard field goal.

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On that first drive, Gagliano took the Chargers 60 yards. He mixed passes with the running of Marion Butts, getting two first downs on third-down passes to Nate Lewis and Ronnie Harmon. He also got 36 yards on two passes to tight end Derrick Walker.

That drive stalled when Lewis dropped a pass in the end zone and then Anthony Miller dropped a potential first-down pass at about the five-yard line.

On the Chargers’ next drive, Gagliano did not leave it to his receiver to botch things up near the end zone. He ran the last 20 yards to a touchdown himself.

Humphries came in early in the second quarter and went deep on his first two attempts. Gagliano’s conservative game probably set the defense up for his successor’s attempted bombs, though both misfired.

On Humphries’ second series, he took the Chargers 80 yards to a touchdown and a 14-3 lead. He helped with his feet as well, running 12 yards for a first down. He also passed for 45 yards on the drive.

On this occasion, Humphries got a bit more playing time than the starter . . . but that was probably to be expected. Gagliano has a head start since this was Humphries’ first appearance since he was acquired from the Washington Redskins.

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It is going to be interesting to see what happens with this guys. You don’t know if the coaches consider Gagliano a mere caretaker until Humphres is ready, and they would never, ever make such an admission.

But it will come down to Gagliano and Humphries. You can forget Pat O’Hara and Jeff Graham, at least when it comes to starting.

“I think it’s getting down,” Coach Bobby Ross said. “I don’t know if it’s still four, and I don’t want to go beyond that. We’ll make the decision when we have to make it.”

He’s right. It is not a decision that needs to be made today or tomorrow. The season does not start until Sept. 6 against Kansas City. He won’t need to identify a starter until he gets into specific preparation for that game.

This was only an exhibition game, to be sure, but these exercises are probably more about individual progress than wins and losses.

Bobby Ross does have to be comfortable with the thought that maybe that most vital position is not quite the disaster area everyone seemed to think it would be when Friesz went down.

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The lightning may not be back, but it’s beginning to look like the quarterbacks aren’t going to short-circuit the offense.

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