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Jarret Johnson Injury: San Diego Chargers OLB out indefinitely

Jarret Johnson has missed 3 games for the 2013 San Diego Chargers so far, but is expected to be out a while with a hand injury that has him in a cast.

By Kyle Posey
Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

Welp. Another hit to the outside linebacker crew for the San Diego Chargers, this time, it's Jarrett Johnson. Johnson played 17 snaps against Miami last Sunday, but was forced to leave due to a hand injury. Mike McCoy confirmed after practice on Thursday that Johnson had surgery on Monday. When asked when Johnson would return, the Chargers head coach went full Belichick on us.

"He'll be back out there when we get him back out"

in 2013, Johnson was arguably having his best season to date. The 11 year veteran had become a more complete player. Not only was he excellent against the run, as always, but he had developed into a solid contributor as a pass rusher. It's weird to think that San Diego is 2-1 in the games that he's missed, but that's in no way indicative to what Johnson means to this team.

In his absence, Reggie Walker was filling in at outside linebacker at times last week, so I'd expect for that to continue this week against the Chiefs. Other than that, rookie Tourek Williams and free agent signing Thomas Keiser are expected to get most of the snaps.

I wonder if this will put even more pressure on Melvin Ingram, who returned to practice yesterday, to get back on the field quickly. I do think it's best for Ingram to play this year, for several reasons, but by no means should he rush back if he's not ready.

Finally, here's a look at Johnson's contract, he's in the 2nd year of a 4 year deal. The interesting point is that, after this year, his base salary isn't guaranteed. So after missing time this year, do the Chargers bring Johnson back in 2014?

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