COSTA MESA, Calif. — Los Angeles Chargers shortstop Justin Herbert underwent surgery Tuesday on a fractured right index finger. The procedure was “successful,” according to coach Brandon Staley. Herbert was placed on injured reserve for the first time in his NFL career. He will miss the final four games this season.
“He’s on the road to recovery,” Staley said.
The Chargers are now in a place they have tried hard to avoid since their move: irrelevance.
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Justin Herbert of the Chargers is out for the rest of the season
This is new territory for Staley as a head coach. For better or worse, his Chargers were never an afterthought. They were in contention for the postseason until the final game of the season in 2021. They made the playoffs in 2022. Sure, the Chargers have drawn plenty of criticism, from Staley’s polarizing decision-making, to Jacksonville’s big lead, to Herbert fist. The gene. But there is still a buzz. People cared. The games mattered – 48 straight games under Staley when the Chargers produced one of the most exciting players in football.
That streak will end Thursday night when Easton Stick makes his first career start in Las Vegas against the Raiders.
What will settle in for the rest of this season is the lack of interest. carelessness. Indifference. A fan of the Chargers and the league in general.
Of course, there is more to this reality than Herbert’s injury. The Chargers are a bad football team. They are 5-8. It ranks 12th in Asia. Only four teams in the NFL have a worse record than the Chargers. They went 5-7 in their first 12 games while Herbert played every offensive snap. They were headed here. Because they had a terrible pass defense. And they couldn’t run the ball. They were unable to execute in the two-minute drill.
With Herbert on the field in Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos, the Chargers’ offense managed just 90 yards on 31 plays.
They are not irrelevant because Herbert was sidelined. They are irrelevant because they fail to produce. They failed to finish. They failed to win.
Herbert’s injury hastened the inevitable.
It must be pretty painful for the Chargers to look at the AFC standings this week. The Kansas City Chiefs are now possible, for the first time in a long time. They have won seven straight AFC West titles. Heading into Week 15, the Broncos — a team that started 1-5 and has given up 70 points in one game — are just a game behind the Chiefs at 7-6.
The Chargers have been waiting for this opportunity, for the Chiefs to return to Earth. They couldn’t stay in the mix long enough to even give themselves a chance.
There are five other teams in the AFC that are 7-6, besides the Broncos. In a wide-open conference, the Chargers are one of only five teams not even in the playoff picture.
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Across town, the Los Angeles Rams are exceeding expectations at 6-7, fighting for a spot in the NFC playoffs.
“We have to take responsibility for this whole season,” defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph Day said this week.
The timing of Herbert’s injury amounts to a worst-case scenario for both Staley and general manager Tom Telesco.
Their last hope of getting this season right was an impressive five-game winning streak to close out the year. Instead, they lost Herbert in the second quarter against the Broncos. The Chargers were down 10-0 at halftime. Would they come back if Herbert hadn’t broken his finger while completing a pass to tight end Donald Parham Jr.? maybe. Probably not.
The truth is, if Herbert went down earlier in the season, Staley and Telesco would have a plausible excuse for this disaster of the season. Instead, Herbert’s injury occurred long after the Chargers had shown their true colors. Staley’s failures as a coach and Telesco’s failures in roster construction have already been exposed.
“That’s the biggest hurdle you can face, when you lose your starting quarterback,” Staley said Tuesday.
Valid point. However, the idea of an obstacle implies that there is some kind of green grass on the other side. Success in the experience and enjoyment when overcoming this obstacle.
What lies on the other side of this hurdle is more misery.
The barren and dreary landscape of a lost season.
insignificance.
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(Top photo: Ryan Sun/Associated Press)
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