SAN DIEGO - Shawne Merriman characterized himself as a "victim of the policy" on Wednesday during his final appearance at Chargers Park before serving his four-week steroid suspension.

But he also acknowledged he ultimately had to accept responsibility for violating that policy.

A day after the Chargers star linebacker decided to drop his appeal for his positive steroid test, he made a brief visit to team headquarters in the morning to address his teammates.

"It's something that I had to do and I think it was appropriate to do," Merriman said of dropping the appeal. "I made a mistake, not purposely, that really violated the policy. But I didn't do anything on purpose."

He will now be barred from working with the team for almost a month and will miss four games starting with Sunday's contest with the Cleveland Browns.

Merriman said it was the right time to drop the appeal out of consideration to the team as well as an understanding that his chances for winning were slim.

Though Merriman has said he unknowingly ingested nandrolone from supplements tainted by a manufacturer, the league's steroid policy states that a positive test will not be excused if it results from supplement use.

"Yes, I did something unknowingly, but at the same time I did something that was against the policy," said Merriman, whose original positive test occurred on Aug. 2. He was first notified of the violation in September.

Merriman remained mum on the identity of the supplement he said caused his positive test, hinting at possible legal action against the manufacturer.

"We're not allowed to say what product yet, because there is a high, high possibility that we'll be going after the manufacturer," he said. "The federal government has gotten involved in what I've been doing and they do know the process of what tainted supplement it is, and they will get involved."

The Chargers embarked on their four-week stretch without their top pass rusher after hearing some words from Merriman. Before practice began, he spoke briefly to the team on the field about dropping the appeal.

"He wanted to let us know, and apologize to the team," said tight end Antonio Gates. "But you know what, there's certain things that happen and he's a part of this team and a part of this family and we support him 100 percent. I think that was the main thing we were trying to get across to him, more so than what he was saying to us."

In Merriman's absence, Carlos Polk will make his first NFL start while continuing his responsibilities on special teams. Concerned about fatigue, head coach Marty Schottenheimer said Stephen Cooper and San Diego State product Akbar Gbaja-Biamila may be in the mix to rotate in for Polk on defense.

"We know we all have to step up," Polk said. "Not just linebackers and D-line, but the entire team. Losing a player like Shawne, you can either take a dive or step up to the plate."

Said quarterback Philip Rivers: "These four weeks, what we've got in that locker room is what we've got, and we've got to go out there and get it done."

CHARGERS NOTES - While preparing to face his Hall-of-Fame father's old team, Browns TE Kellen Winslow decided to stir the pot a little Wednesday. "I hope they play a lot of man coverage so I can go one-on-one with Terrence Kiel - and get him," Winslow said, punctuating his declaration with a laugh. Kiel wasn't amused. "Yeah, it was kind of personal," said Kiel upon hearing the comment. He said the two have never met. … DBs Clinton Hart (hip) and Bhawoh Jue (knee) are listed as probable to play Sunday, while DE Igor Olshansky (knee) and Shaun Phillips (calf) are questionable. … Evidently, 183-yard games put RB LaDainian Tomlinson in a pretty good mood. He wore a gorilla mask on Monday; on Wednesday, he chimed in to ask a question during QB Philip Rivers' press conference.

- Contact staff writer Michael Klitzing at mklitzing@nctimes.com.