Chargers' Merriman Done for Season After All

Shawne Merriman of the Chargers says his season is over. The Pro Bowl linebacker, a perennial NFL sack leader, says he will instead have surgery on torn ligaments in his left knee, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Merriman played well in Sunday's loss but didn't appear to be his old self when changing directions and moving backward.

“Shawne informed me he did not feel right and thought it best to shut it down,” said the team's GM. “The road to winning the AFC West just got more difficult, but not impossible." Before the season began, Merriman made the rounds of specialists, then declared he would forgo the surgery until the end of the season. (More Shawn Merriman stories.)