SAN DIEGO -- Just when the San Diego Chargers had holdout cornerback Quentin Jammer on the verge of signing his contract, they learned Pro Bowl safety Rodney Harrison could be out two to three weeks with a pulled groin.

	Harrison

Harrison was hurt late in San Diego's 34-6 win at Cincinnati on Sunday.

"Things like this will happen,'' Harrison said of his injury, which happened when a patch of turf gave way. "I'm going to rest it, I'm going to be patient and come back hopefully in a couple of weeks and get ready to play some ball. You just can't go out there and force it, because then you'd be out maybe 4-6 weeks and you'd never want that to happen.''

The Chargers play host Sunday to the expansion Houston Texans, who won their inaugural game Sunday night, 19-10 over the Dallas Cowboys. San Diego is at Arizona on Sept. 22 before playing host to defending Super Bowl champion New England the following week.

With Harrison out, either rookie Vernon Fox or veteran Keith Lyle will start at strong safety, coach Marty Schottenheimer said.

"In a couple of weeks, we really get into the thick of our schedule and we really need to have all our forces there,'' Harrison said.

By then, Jammer, the fifth pick overall in April's draft, should be ready to play. General manager John Butler said the Chargers likely will ask for a two-week roster exemption for Jammer, who missed all of training camp and Sunday's opener.

Jammer passed his physical Monday and the NFL approved the language in his six-year contract, but he hadn't signed yet because his agent, Mike Sullivan, who was traveling, had to give it a final review. Jammer wasn't able to go through Monday's light practice. The Chargers' next practice is Wednesday.

"We're getting there,'' Butler said.

Butler defended the Chargers' handling of the negotiations, which just last week led Jammer and his agent to threaten to sit out the season and re-enter the draft if he didn't get more money than the sixth pick, Kansas City defensive tackle Ryan Sims.

Sims' bonus money plus salaries amounts to $12.15 million over the first three years of his deal, while Jammer's are $12.45 million over the same period, Butler said.

"When you see those, it's much easier to realize our package was ahead of theirs,'' Butler said. "And there are incentives to keep him ahead of the Kansas City kid. I think they wanted to wait and wait and hope Kansas City would offer a lot more.''

Jammer will receive $10.5 million in bonuses. With incentives, he could earn $13.2 million over three seasons.

Sullivan has declined comment on the deal.