Column: Heard this before? Injuries are keeping Justin Herbert, Chargers from flourishing
Three quarters into its broadcast of the Chargers’ 17-10 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, CBS aired a highlight package before a commercial break.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes sitting on the bench. Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh moving his gaze up from the ground. Chiefs counterpart Andy Reid pointing and shouting.
The images were entirely unremarkable — except for one.
Between the footage of Harbaugh and Reid, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was shown slamming his helmet with both hands into the backrest of one of his team’s metal benches.
“I wouldn’t consider that a highlight,†Herbert said.
Even shorthanded on offense and defense, the Chargers jumped to a 10-0 lead on the two-time defending Super Bowl champs before the Chiefs came back to win.
OK, video clip, whatever.
“Just the NFL,†Herbert said. “Part of the game. You know, emotion.â€
What prompted the outburst?
Herbert wouldn’t say.
Then again, the details were unimportant. The scene told the story of the game.
After a 10-play, 74-yard touchdown drive to start the game, Herbert was under constant attack.
Herbert, who played with a protective brace to protect an injured right ankle, didn’t play behind either of his regular starting offensive tackles. He didn’t have any legitimate play-making threats to whom he could throw the ball because the Chargers don’t have any on their roster.
Reality has started to set in for the Chargers.
In the wake of their anticipated defeat to the defending Super Bowl champions at SoFi Stadium, they are 2-2.
This season marked a new start under a new coach for the Chargers, but they have encountered the same old problem. Four weeks into the season, a team with a history of injury problems has, you guessed it, injury problems.
Outside linebacker Joey Bosa didn’t play against the Chiefs because of a hip injury. Rookie linebacker Junior Colson missed his second consecutive game because of a hamstring ailment.
Safety Derwin James Jr. was suspended for violating the NFL’s safety rules.
On offense, left tackle Rashawn Slater was sidelined with a strained pectoral muscle. Rookie Joe Alt was down with a sprained knee ligament.
The Chargers were more than competitive against the Chiefs, and who knows what they could have done if they were at full strength, but how many times was that said about them in their previous seven years in Los Angeles?
Herbert was sacked only twice, but he was smashed into the turf plenty of other times. Heck, he was hit even when he found Ladd McConkey at the back of the end zone for the first points of the game.
“We just have to get Justin another half-second, second,†Harbaugh said.
Herbert was hit when looking for receiver Joshua Palmer. He was hit when his attempted pass to tight end Will Dissly was nearly intercepted. He was hit when he completed a short pass to running back J.K. Dobbins.
Most critically, he was hit on a fourth-down throw from the Chiefs’ three-yard line early in the fourth quarter with the score level, 10-10. Flushed out of the pocket by Chris Jones, he was speared by Felix Anudike-Uzomah as he threw away the ball.
“He’s doing everything humanly possible, and then some,†Harbaugh said of his quarterback.
Harbaugh presumably didn’t want to make any excuses about injuries, and he didn’t. Instead, the coach resorted to blaming himself.
“I wish I could have done better for our guys,†he said.
Better how?
“The pre-snap penalties,†Harbaugh said. “We gotta be better. I look at that as coaching.â€
He also said he wished he would have challenged the ball placement on the play before Herbert’s fourth-down throw from the Chiefs’ three.
On the third-down play in question, Palmer caught a short pass from Herbert and scooted forward while on the ground. Instead of challenging the pay, Harbaugh called a timeout.
The Chargers were shorthanded on offense and defense and still gave the Chiefs all they could handle, but could not come through in the clutch again.
“Then started seeing some replays that maybe he did get a little closer, maybe it was possible that he got the first down,†Harbaugh said. “I wish I would have thought of just throwing the challenge flag. Would have been the same as taking the timeout.â€
Later in the quarter, the Chiefs went ahead 17-10 on a two-yard run by Samaje Perine.
When the clock expired, the Chargers were .500. Herbert was beaten up and frustrated, as he often has been in his five NFL seasons.
Maybe this season will unfold the way Herbert envisioned. Maybe this season will be different from his last. Or maybe it won’t, and he’ll have to wait until next year, provided his body holds up.
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