SAN DIEGO -- In a conversation with reporters after practice Monday, San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy confirmed receiver Stevie Johnson suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee that will require surgery.
"He'll have a medical procedure done in the next couple days," McCoy said. "And then we'll have a better idea on how long he will be out, once that procedure takes place. But I can't give you any dates. We'll give you some rough estimates after he gets it cleaned up.
"It's an unfortunate situation for everything he's done at this time, but we'll go on from there," McCoy added.
Johnson will be out indefinitely until the team can establish a timetable for his return to the field. Johnson suffered the injury after making a diving catch, getting up and twisting his knee as he worked to get up the field. Johnson immediately went down in pain, and had to be helped off of the field to the training room.
McCoy said he would love for Johnson to make it back in time for San Diego's regular-season opener at Kansas City on Sept. 11, but the team will have to wait and see how the cleanup surgery goes this week.
Johnson missed six games because of hamstring and groin injuries in 2015. He finished with 45 receptions for 497 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson hasn't played a full, 16-game season since 2012.
Johnson, 30, was penciled in to serve as San Diego's No. 3 receiver, mainly working in the slot with Keenan Allen and Travis Benjamin on the perimeter. All but 28 of Johnson's 497 snaps in 2015 were spent inside at slot receiver.
With Johnson unavailable, the Chargers could look to use Allen inside more, along with Dontrelle Inman or second-year pro Tyrell Williams.
"Our job is to put players in position to be successful," McCoy said. "So when you have a quarterback like Philip (Rivers) who's going to spread the wealth, we'll maybe do a few more things with formations, but over time we'll figure all of that out."