COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Los Angeles Chargers general manager Tom Telesco told reporters on Sunday that the team informed running back Melvin Gordon's representation that talks regarding his contract extension have been postponed until the end of the season.

"When or if Melvin reports, he'll play this season under his current contract, and we'll just revisit it after the season," 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 Chargers agree to the terms.

The Wisconsin product did not report to the start of training camp at the end of July, 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 such as Todd Gurley, David Johnson and Le'Veon Bell, who earn an average of $13 to $14 million annually.

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

Telesco said the Chargers will turn to Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson to shoulder the load at running back with Gordon unavailable.

"Those two guys are going to work in tandem with each other," Telesco said. "I think the day and age of having to have one running back to carry it 300 times is probably not the smartest thing in the world anyways.

"Even if you have a big, bell-cow back, you'd like to have another back to come in and spell them, give them some rest and have a different dimension. So right now we're very happy with Austin as an every-down back."

Gordon's holdout is one of a couple of early-season adversities facing the Chargers, a team expected to compete for a playoff berth for a second year in a row and a deep postseason run in 2019.

Left tackle Russell Okung was placed on the reserve/non-football illness list to start the season due to a pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots and cannot play for at least the first six weeks of the regular season. Okung will only return to the field when cleared by doctors.

And All-Pro safety Derwin James is expected to be placed on the injured reserve list after surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot, and will not be available until November at the earliest.

However, Telesco said his team is unfazed by early misfortunes.

"Every season there's going to be obstacles that you have," Telesco said. "And that's just the way it is. It's our job to figure out a way around them. It's our job to have solutions to them, and it's our job to play through them."