Second-year tight end Temarrick Hemingway will be out for a significant amount of time after suffering a fractured fibula on Saturday, head coach Sean McVay said on Sunday.

"Unfortunate for him because he was one of those that [we'd] seen a lot of encouraging things [from], did a lot of really good things on the line of scrimmage — especially in the run game," McVay said. "So that's a big loss for us. And it's going to require some guys to step up in his absence. And we'll see how guys handle that."

Hemingway was carted off the field following a nine-yard run by Malcolm Brown in the second quarter of Saturday's preseason matchup against the Chargers. According to McVay, Hemingway is slated to have surgery on Tuesday. After the procedure, McVay said there will be more clarity on the extent of the injury and a timetable for recovery.

"There's a couple different ways that it could play out, where it could potentially be an eight-to-10-week thing, where he'd be one of those guys [who's a candidate] for the IR/designated to return possibility," McVay said. "But if you go in there and you find some different things based on him getting rolled up on, it could be a three-to-four-month injury. So you can't really say until you fully have the surgery, get in there, and see the specifics of what's going on."

Selected in the sixth round of last year's draft out of South Carolina State, Hemingway was mainly a special teams contributor as a rookie, but had been carving out a significant role for himself in McVay's offense.

"He was one of the guys that I was extremely encouraged with — we were as a staff — and really counting on him for some big things," McVay said. "I think when you talk about the length, the athleticism, his movement — when he gets the ball in his hands, he can create after the catch. He offered a lot of flexibility with what we could do with some of our personnel groupings.

"So it's a big loss for us," McVay continued. "And, like I said, it'll be interesting to see who steps up to fill that void because there certainly is one left by what we had anticipated for Temarrick for the start of the season."

With Hemingway sidelined, McVay said tight ends like Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett may have to contribute more in the run game. And Cory Harkey continues to be an option at the position, too.

"What Cory Harkey has been to this organization over the last couple years offers him an opportunity to step up," McVay said. "Cory's a good football player that does bring some versatility to the position, and those are very helpful things for us."

Two younger tight ends who will have a chance to showcase their talents on Thursday against Green Bay are Johnny Mundt and Travis Wilson.

"[T]hey'll get a lot of snaps and it will be a great opportunity for us to evaluate them as well," McVay said.