One of the more confusing decisions made by a team over the weekend came from the Los Angeles Chargers on the verge of their Week 4 showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs.
As star quarterback Justin Herbert was dealing with a high ankle sprain and was seen clearly limping in the days leading up to the game, the Chargers decided to go ahead and let him play on Sunday despite having every reason not to.
In the end, the Chargers were sent home as official losers following the 17-10 victory for the Chiefs, but the Bolts were winners from the perspective that at least luck was on their side in terms of Herbert's health. He played a full 60 minutes and was still upright after the game.
Guess peer pressure is a real thing.
The reasons for not playing Herbert were important because the context game the team every reason to sit him. First, the Chiefs were the Chargers' final opponent before an early bye in Week 5, menaing that to avoid playing Herbert would have given him 2-3 weeks to heal before the rest of the long season got going.
Beyond that, the Chargers were already down several players. Starting tackles Joe Alta and Rashawn Slater, which meant it was going to be much harder to protect Herbert and dictate the offensive game plan. From there, Joey Bosa was out, who is the team's best pass rusher, as was Derwin James, the team's best safety. Other minor injuries kept some guys from playing, but suffice it to say, the Chargers were a shell of themselves in Week 4.
Still Herbert insisted on playing the game, and in a media session with reporters following the loss, Herbert cited his teammates as a reason to put the pads on.
"I looked at those guys in that locker room," said Herbert when asked about his decision to play.." I know that everyone else in that locker room would do it as well. Everyone’s not feeling great. It’s the NFL. It’s a tough… it’s a brutal game, but I know I left everything I had out there. I felt comfortable. Our communication with the training staff has been great all week. But I know all of those guys in the locker room would do the same thing."
When it comes to facing the Chiefs defense and the challenges there, Herbert gave a lot of credit to Steve Spagnuolo and his unit. "They’re a really well-coached team," he said. "We’ve got a lot of respect for them and they’ve got a lot of guys on that side of the ball that fly around. So it’s on us to be able to handle their front seven, push the ball down the field, and keep running the ball."
The Chargers will hope to change their fortunes in Week 6 after some time away to figure out what went wrong after a quick 2-0 start under Jim Harbaugh. The team's next scheduled game is on the road against the Denver Broncos.