Justin Herbert's injury proves Chargers' health ghosts haven't left the building

Even for a rival, you gotta feel for the inability of the Chargers to ever keep their stars healthy.

The L.A. Chargers heard the news that 32 teams in the National Football League pray against hearing every preseason on Thursday with the report that Justin Herbert had suffered an injury. Specifically, NFL reporter Adam Schefter says that Herbert has plantar fascia in his right foot and will spend some time in a boot going forward.

There is good news here (for the Chargers) in that Herbert is, at this point, still expected to be ready for the regular season. That means that this entire injury could turn out to be a nothing burger.

In the bigger picture, however, Chargers fans have to be frustrating either way because the ghosts are still freely moving throughout SoFi Stadium despite changes in the offseason. And despite the fact that we're Chiefs fans around here, it's hard not to feel bad in a way for the Bolts alt this point.

Yes, the Chargers are AFC West rivals, but no one wants to see players suffer injuries on any team. And when you see so many injuries stack up over the years, it's tough to watch no matter what team you cheer for.

Looking back over the last few years, the Chargers have always looked amazing on paper and yet somehow the talent level hasn't translated on the field. Much of that has to do with health. Joey Bosa is one of the most fearsome pass rushers in the NFL, but he's played three seasons with 6 starts or fewer.

Mike Williams and Keenan Allen should have formed one of the most dynamic receiving duos in the entire NFL, but how often did the Chargers have a full arsenal at their quarterback's disposal?

Even more than just the last few years, the New York Times even looked into the long-term myth that the Chargers were the most injured team in the league since 2013 back in 2020. From Bryan Bulaga to Derwin James to Nasir Adderley to... you get the picture.

We're sure Jim Harbaugh was hoping that a regime change might bring about better health reports for the Chargers going forward. At this point, however, it looks like the problem might be a supernatural or spiritual thing. Whether that means hiring a shaman or something else to cast out the demons, it might be worth doing now before Harbaugh gets too much farther into his tenure.