Lots at stake in Chargers preseason finale
Javontee Herndon played in the Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl as a wide receiver for the University of Arkansas. He played in front of 90,000 people at LSU, among many other big games around the Southeastern Conference.
But what he faces now, this is a different level.
“I don’t think they had the same magnitude this game will,” Herndon said.
He was speaking about a game that won’t be televised live locally, because not enough people bought tickets. A game in which almost every starting player for either team will be merely a spectator. A game the NFL deems to not even really be a game, given that the two participating teams will meet in the season opener 11 days later.
Herndon was referring to Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals.
The rookie receiver is among a small group of players to whom this exhibition is even more important than it is inconsequential to most everyone else.
They are the young players, mostly rookies, who are fighting for their jobs. Really, they are fighting for the lives they know.
“I’ve been playing since I was eight,” Herndon said. “Football, I don’t see myself without it. For it to come down to one game is big, so it will be exciting.”
Ask Danny Woodhead.
Woodhead, undrafted out of Division II Chadron State and now about to start his sixth NFL season, addressed his Chargers teammates after practice on Tuesday.
He spoke specifically to the young players with one last chance to prove themselves as he recounted his own experience in the New York Jets’ final exhibition of 2009.
Woodhead in that game scored on a 55-yard run, scored later from three yards out, gained a total of 158 yards on 18 carries, caught a pass for 10 yards and returned a kickoff 31 yards.
“I still remember it,” Woodhead said after his post-practice speech. “. . . It’s obviously a big game for guys. You can’t make it more than what it is, but this is a real opportunity for them.”
The Chargers 53-man roster is largely set. Perhaps, even, there are no more than two spots yet to be decided.
We know that the competition between Willie Smith and Michael Harris to be the backup offensive tackle remains fierce. There is at least one defensive line position available, with three players trying to grab it and keep the Chargers from looking on the waiver wire. Maybe Marion Grice can wrest the fourth running back spot from Branden Oliver. With a monster game, Thomas Keiser could prompt the team to keep him over Tourek Williams. And it is possible that a stellar game by third quarterback Brad Sorensen could convince the Chargers they need to spend a roster spot on him.
There are also 10 spots on the practice squad, and performances on Thursday will sway some of those decisions.
Practice squad players make $6,300 a week during the 17-week season, and being on a practice squad keeps a player in the NFL.
Woodhead began’09 on the Jets practice squad. Receiver Malcom Floyd, about to begin his 10th season, is an alumnus of the Chargers practice squad. No fewer than seven other current Chargers were once members of a practice squad.
That’s likely where Herndon is headed, as he has shown a frequent ability to make plays, runs good routes and returns kicks. Among the reasons he hasn’t been able to surpass Dontrelle Inman or Seyi Ajirotutu were a few letdowns in practices and games.
Even as he knows he needs to move on and focus on Thursday, Herndon can’t quite shake the thought that a pass off his hands in Seattle could cost him.
“If I could have made that one,” he said, “I’d feel a lot more comfortable.”
He has one more chance to put that behind him.
“At this point, it’s just show them everything you’ve got,” he said. “My agent pretty much told me it comes down to this -- play even harder than you have before, go harder on special teams, prove to them you belong there.”
That’s all that matters tonight.
