The Los Angeles Chargers suffered a tough defeat on Thursday night in Kansas City, and they may have lost their star quarterback as well. Justin Herbert suffered a rib injury late in the game but only missed one play – as required – as he attempted to bring his team back in the fourth quarter.
Herbert didn’t look like himself, but he pushed through anyway. But was that the right decision for the franchise?
Josh Palet, David Palet, and Mario Herron of Audacy’s “Bolt City” podcast talked about Herbert’s injury and the decision to keep him in the game on Thursday night.
“Justin Herbert, when he had the 1st down at the end of the game, and he kinda just threw the ball to the side as he was hurt,” Josh said (6:46 in player above). “Did you think our season was over right there? I was like ‘He has broken ribs. We’re done. The season is over right now.’”
Herbert appeared to suffer a rib injury, and fans across the country held their breath. But he stayed in the game, even if he didn’t look like himself.
“Dude, he was right there. The first-down marker was there. Kirk Herbstreit said it. Why didn’t you just take three more steps and slide or just go down? You aren’t going to get hit,” David said. “The fact he didn’t take the first down – it bailed out on the next pass – but you’re like, ‘You just lost the game.’ As soon as he threw it and he was in so much pain … Oh my God, was I concerned.”
After not running on third down, Herbert came back with one of the best throws of the game to get the fourth-down conversion.
But should Herbert have been in the game at all? The Chargers were down by 10 points and would need to recover the onside kick to have a chance.
“I was thinking dude, at that point just take him out. It’s Week 2. Just take the loss. Take the tough loss and say this is what we did well in Arrowhead and move on, ‘cause we need him to be here for the whole season,” Herron said.
The Chargers have a long week before hosting the Jaguars next Sunday.
“We have the Jaguars next week. Put in the backups. I’m fine with Chase Daniel lining up against the Jaguars. I feel very confident in him playing pretty well against the Jags,” Herron continued. “Let Herbert just rest that. That’s the number one thing, I was sitting right there I was like, dude, at that point, I hate taking the loss and I hate waving the white flag, but when your franchise quarterback can’t even take three steps and we’re in a very important year in the franchise. Dude, just take it out and then he decides to save us by throwing the most beautiful pass of the game, which is just remarkable. I couldn’t even believe that pass.”
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