Lynn on Gordon chatter: 'Time to play football'

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- With Melvin Gordon's holdout now reaching 41 days and extending into the regular season, Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn told reporters that his focus is fully on his team's Week 1 opponent this Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts.

"My concern right now is on Indianapolis," Lynn said. "We've talked about that for a long time. I'm just ready to move on -- we're playing games."

Asked if he addressed Gordon's situation with the team over the weekend, Lynn said he did not.

"Not at all," he said. "We've been talking about this for a month and a half. Now, it's time to play football."

With Gordon unavailable and unlikely to show up this week, running backAustin Ekeler is slated to serve as the starter and split time with second-year pro Justin Jackson.

The duo shared time in a similar manner last season, with the Chargers going 4-0 in 2018 with Gordon nursing hamstring and knee injuries.

Ekeler, used mostly as a change-up back in his first two years in the league with Gordon the workhorse back, said his approach on Sunday won't change now that he's the starter.

"My approach has been the same the last two years, whether I'm playing special teams, on offense or splitting half and half," Ekeler said. "I'm put in a spot where this is my role for the game, go out and execute it and do the preparation that's recommended for that."

Jackson said the fact that players have dealt with the situation since training camp opened at the end of July helped them become accustomed to life without Gordon, and the Wisconsin product's absence does not serve as a distraction.

"You don't really hear us talk about it in the locker room because we have to play with what we got," Jackson said. "Obviously, we want Melvin to be here. He's our brother, and we'll never say we don't want him to be here with us, because that's our brother and we love him.

"But right now, we're going to play the Colts and we have this 53-man roster that we're working with. So I think that's everyone's mindset going into it -- I've got a job to do."

Center Mike Pouncey said he communicates with Gordon, but echoed Jackson's sentiments that the team has to shift its focus to the regular season.

"We're all friends with Mel and we want him to get paid," Pouncey said. "In this league, your time is slim to none to get a big contract, so I think for him he feels like this is his best opportunity to get one.

"We're going to stick with him. We wish he was here to help us win these football games, but at the end of the day he's going to be a friend of mine way after football, and so I'm going to stick with whatever decision he wants to go with."

General manager Tom Telesco postponed talks with Gordon's representation until the end of the season. Further, if Gordon does report to the team this year, he'll play under his current contract, Telesco said.

Gordon is set to make $5.605 million in 2019 on the fifth-year team option of his rookie deal.

With contract talks at an impasse, the Chargers granted Gordon's representation permission to seek a trade with another team, so he could potentially play elsewhere this season under a new deal if he finds a trade partner and the Bolts agree to the terms.

The Wisconsin product did not report to the start of training camp, telling the Chargers through his representation that if he does not receive a new deal, he'll sit out and demand a trade.

Gordon desires a contract extension that will compensate him among the top running backs in the league like Todd Gurley II, David Johnson and Le'Veon Bell, who earn an average of $13 million to $14 million annually.

Earlier this season the Chargers offered Gordon a new contract that potentially doubled his salary at roughly $10 million annually -- but that offer does not appear to be available anymore.