Justin Herbert dodged two rushers as he escaped the collapsing pocket of the Chargers and moved on his sprained ankle. While throwing on the run, he made an impressive pass about 19 yards downfield to a sprinting J.K. Dobbins, who unfortunately dropped the ball.
Herbert’s statistics were not standout in Los Angeles’ 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The fifth-year quarterback completed 16 of 27 passes for 179 yards, with one touchdown thrown during the opening drive in the Chargers’ second straight loss, bringing their record to 2-2.
However, considering the challenging situation Herbert was in, new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh was amazed by his quarterback’s determination.
“Some of those throws that he made, I don’t have the adjective for it,” Harbaugh said. “It’s warrior-like. It’s everything within his human power and then some, is the way I look at it. It’s incredible what he can do.”
Herbert suffered a high right ankle sprain last week in Pittsburgh, and he played against the Chiefs with a brace on his injured ankle, which is still healing. But he did not think about sitting out this week for extra rest before Los Angeles’ bye week.
“I looked at those guys in that locker room, and I know that everyone else in that locker room would do it as well,” Herbert said. “Everyone’s not feeling great. It’s the NFL. It’s a tough, it’s a brutal game, but I know that I left everything I had out there. I felt comfortable.”
Herbert played with limited movement behind a makeshift offensive line that was missing starting left tackle Rashawn Slater and starting right tackle Joe Alt.
Los Angeles had to rely on backup guard Jamaree Salyer at left tackle and right guard Trey Pipkins at right tackle, with practice-squad player Sam Mustipher taking on the right guard position, all while facing Chris Jones and the Chiefs’ tricky blitzes and pressures.
