SAN DIEGO -- Outside linebacker Shawne Merriman is expected to report to Chargers training camp within the next few days, sources close to the team said Wednesday.
However, Merriman refuted that he will show up soon.
"All reports of me reporting to camp this weekend would come from the team 'San Diego Chargers' not 'sources,'" Merriman wrote on his Twitter page.
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A source close to Merriman also denied a report that the linebacker will join the Chargers this weekend, telling NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora that the situation isn't resolved.
Merriman is one of three Chargers who haven't come to camp. The others are wide receiver Vincent Jackson and offensive tackle Marcus McNeill, each of whom is seeking a pay increase.
If Merriman reports to the Chargers, he would sign a one-year, $3.269 tender offer that the team made to him after he became a restricted free agent.
Merriman has told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he doesn't merely want to be "a guy" on the Chargers' defense, but someone around whom the unit is built. Someone close to the situation said that wouldn't be the case, though, as the Chargers continue to groom second-year pro Larry English, who has taken Merriman's place in the lineup in camp drills, as the eventual replacement.
Sources close to the team said the Chargers are expecting to begin the regular season without Jackson and McNeill and likely play more than half of the schedule without them. They are expected to report in mid-November, the latest possible date that would allow them to earn an accrued season so they would qualify for unrestricted free agency and increase their pension.
