CHARGER REVIEW : NOTEBOOK : May and Stanley Make the Plays That May Help Them Make Team

Coach Bobby Ross didn’t wait long in Thursday’s 30-19 exhibition victory over the Rams before he started looking at bubble players, those fighting for spots on the 47-man roster.

Deems May, listed third on the depth chart at tight end, played much of the first half in a three-tight end alignment with Derrick Walker and Duane Young. May, a seventh-round draft from North Carolina, is competing with rookie free agent Tony Lenseigne for the last roster spot at tight end/H-back.

May was not thrown to, but he sealed off the left side on an 18-yard run by Butts in the second quarter.

A quick rundown of other bubble battles:

Walter Stanley, Robert Claiborne and Johnnie Barnes are fighting for one or possibly two spots at receiver. Stanley might have clinched a job with his diving catch of a Stan Humphries bullet in the back of the end zone early. A seven-year veteran, Stanley has not given the Chargers much reason to cut him. He has held on to nearly everything thrown his way in practices and games.

In addition to his four-yard scoring catch, Stanley also caught a seven-yard pass and returned a punt seven yards.

Claiborne caught two out passes for 17 yards. The play before Stanley’s touchdown, Claiborne was alone in the end zone, but Humphries overthrew him.

Later, Claiborne got in the way of punt return by letting the ball hit him. Fortunately, he recovered the ball.

Barnes, a ninth-round draft choice from Hampton Institute, played late in the fourth quarter but he was not thrown a pass.

Cedric Mack could have helped his cause at cornerback, but he dropped an almost sure interception and touchdown thrown to him by Ram quarterback Mike Pagel. Mack is competing for a job with Donald Frank and Sean Vanhorse.

Said Mack: “I was concentrating so hard on the receiver, I saw the ball at the last second. All of a sudden, it was in front of my face and I couldn’t react fast enough.”

The Chargers gave their fans a thrill by opening up their offense almost immediately. For the first time in three games, they did not begin the game by handing off to Marion Butts on the right side. Bob Gagliano threw a three-yard pass in the flat to Anthony Miller.

But it didn’t take them long to back to Butts. On the next play, they went back to Butts who started right but cut back left for 10 yards.

The Chargers did not suffer any injuries of note.

Receiver Shawn Jefferson, who was held out of the game with a hamstring injury, said he will try to practice on Monday.

Asked about rumors that he might spend the first four games on the injured reserve list, Jefferson: “I haven’t heard that. If I can’t go, I’m not going to hurt the team by trying to go. But if I go on injured reserve, I will make the decision.”

Miller hauled in five passes from Gagliano, but Gagliano said it should have been six. He underthrew Miller on a long pass play in the first quarter.

“I was disappointed on that one,” he said. “I didn’t want to overthrow it.”

But most of the night, Gagliano said he and Miller were on the same page.

“Anthony made some really nice adjustments,” he said. “I felt comfortable knowing where he was going to be.”

Billy Ray Smith saw his first action of the preseason, playing much of the second half.

“It felt pretty good,” said Smith, who has been troubled by a nagging calf injury. “But everything was happening really fast out there.”

General Manager Bobby Beathard met with the agents for holdout nose tackle Joe Phillips Wednesday. David Morway, one of Phillips’ agents, said he is still waiting for Beathard to trade his client.

“Our position has not changed,” he said. “Joe playing for the Chargers is definitely out of the question.”

Morway he is confident Beathard will continue to try and move Phillips.

“We’re going to wait as long as it takes,” Morway said. “I don’t expect Bobby to just trade Joe. I expect him to try and get something of value for him.”

Rams Coach Chuck Knox was reserving judgment on his team’s performance.

“I’m not going to comment on any positions until we look at the films,” Knox said. “We’ve got a couple of days to make those decisions. I don’t have any impressions on anybody at this point, but we’ll have to decide who our best 47 are and who we have the best chance to win with.”

The Rams’ tailback situation will get plenty of scrutiny.

Robert Delpino, who has been hampered by a groin injury and had just three carries for three yards in the preseason before Thursday, saw a lot of action and picked up 21 yards in six carries. Cleveland Gary rushed for 23 yards in eight carries. Marcus Dupree, Derek Loville and David Lang all saw limited action.

So the only thing that’s clear is nobody in blue and gold is doing a very good Walter Payton imitation this summer.