SAN DIEGO -- Shawne Merriman was unsure what to do last Sunday. His injured left knee kept him out of the contest with the Detroit Lions, and he felt awkwardly out of place.

So he did the same thing he would have done had he been playing -- spouted off at the mouth and jawed at opponents.

"It was horrible," Merriman said. "I was real fidgety and getting into it a little bit with some of the players on their team. It was all fun, but I would definitely rather be out there."

Merriman was a limited practice participant Thursday and vows to return to the field when the Chargers host Denver on Monday night.

A definite decision will come as game time nears, but coach Norv Turner was pleased to see the Pro Bowl linebacker back on the practice field.

"Shawne Merriman moved around pretty good," Turner said. "He didn't take a lot of reps, but he moved around."

Merriman has been moving toward a speedy return almost from the moment he injured the knee against Tennessee on Dec. 9. He has been vigorously rehabbing the knee and has no interest in being a spectator when the Broncos come to town.

"Your career is only so long, regardless of playoffs and Super Bowls, and I just don't want to miss any time, at all," Merriman said. "I couldn't imagine sitting out. Last week killed me. I didn't know what to do. I felt like a stranger out there. I was walking around and I was like 'Wow.' I was sitting there watching it."

Merriman described the knee as "pretty close" to being fully recovered. He also revealed a rehab process in which he has spent an overabundance of time in the team training room.

"The whole day while (the team is) in meetings and doing everything, I've been in there doing exercises and getting ice and getting everything back right," Merriman said.

Suggest to Merriman that he doesn't want to miss out on playing on the Monday night stage and he quickly makes it known that just playing the game, no matter what day of the week, is what's truly important to him.

"Regardless of whether it was Monday night or not, if it was up to me I would've put on a brace and played last week," Merriman said. "But they just said it wasn't going to happen."

The injury came at a bad time in that Merriman was playing his best football of the season. After a slow start, he has 11 1/2 sacks, tied for sixth in the NFL and just two behind leader Patrick Kerney of Seattle.

Often facing double teams, Merriman had just 5 1/2 sacks after 10 games. He exploded with six over the next three weeks -- one against Baltimore, three against Kansas City and two against Tennessee despite playing less than half the game because of the injury.

"Sacks come in bunches," said Merriman, who had an NFL-leading 17 sacks last season. "You can't really set a number on them. Sacks are like getting touchdowns. They're hard to do.

"This year, I've seen a bunch of things from double teams and people sliding to me and a lot of chip blocks when I'm coming off the edge. I've seen a lot this year.

"For me to battle through and kind of keep focused and not get frustrated, it was really tough, but I knew I would finish up where I wanted to be."

And where he wants to be Monday night is back on the football field. While there has been some talk that it might be better to rest some injured players over the final two games with a playoff berth already secured, Merriman wants no part of that conversation. He just wants to play.

"I'm really trying to get back," Merriman said. "I wouldn't get on the field and jeopardize myself if I wasn't 100 percent."

Contact staff writer Mike Sullivan at (760) 739-6645 or msullivan@nctimes.com.