{"id":476679,"date":"2026-09-26T18:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/476679\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T18:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:50:09","slug":"why-justin-herbert-isnt-questioning-chargers-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/476679\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Justin Herbert isn’t questioning Chargers’ leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Justin Herbert<\/a> is prioritizing on-field execution as the Chargers<\/a> seek their first win.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the seventh-year quarterback cut off a reporter\u2019s question about whether the team\u2019s locker room needs heightened vocal leadership as the Chargers carry an 0-2 record<\/a> into Sunday\u2019s road game against the unbeaten Buffalo Bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m going to stop you right there,\u201d Herbert said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got great leadership on this team. I trust those guys in that locker room, so I don\u2019t think anyone has panicked or worried because that\u2019s not going to do us any good.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s [about] moving on to the next play and understanding we\u2019re close, we made mistakes, how do we fix it and how do we move on?\u201d<\/p>\n

Herbert\u2019s intense messaging was surprising. The quarterback usually speaks in emotionless platitudes during news conferences.<\/p>\n

But that response, or leadership \u2014 a trait teammates and coaches see far more from Herbert than the public \u2014 is one of several reasons why the Chargers are supporting their quarterback despite the offense\u2019s sloppy start to the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t anybody giving up on anything,\u201d wide receiver Tre\u2019 Harris<\/a> said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s still on the same page. Everybody has extreme belief in 10 \u2014 I know I do \u2014 and extreme belief in [offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel<\/a>] as well. We\u2019ll go out there and do what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chargers are averaging just 14 points per game, above only the winless Miami Dolphins (13) and the 1-1 Pittsburgh Steelers (11.5).<\/p>\n

And Herbert is partially responsible.<\/p>\n

He ranks 27th in completion percentage (59.3%) through two weeks and is 23rd in passing yards (401) with the second-most interceptions (3).<\/p>\n

\u201cBy default, Justin blames himself,\u201d McDaniel said.<\/p>\n

\"Inglewood, <\/p>\n

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is sacked by Arizona Cardinals linebacker Jordan Burch on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Herbert just hasn\u2019t looked comfortable in yet another new scheme. But, as usual with him, context is key.<\/p>\n

With a revolving door at left guard and rookie Jake Slaughter starting at center, the Chargers have allowed the league\u2019s second-highest pressure rate (45.5%), according to Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n

Herbert\u2019s receivers have been inconsistent, too, struggling with pre-snap communication, frustrating \u2014 sometimes comical \u2014 drops and, of course, injuries.<\/p>\n

The offense overall is plagued by too many fumbles (7), penalties (15 for 109 yards) and other self-inflicted wounds. So while Herbert\u2019s stats aren\u2019t pretty, the Chargers\u2019 woes go beyond his performances.<\/p>\n

They have Herbert\u2019s back, though, as they collectively sort things out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been locked in [and] dialed in, man,\u201d safety Derwin James Jr.<\/a> said. \u201cHe\u2019s working hard in the weight room [and] making all his throws out there. So, I can\u2019t wait to try to get him some stops on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, there\u2019s the McDaniel factor.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that he thought the Chargers would score more than 28 points thus far. As a result, he is considering \u201ceverything\u201d moving forward, including shrinking the playbook.<\/p>\n

McDaniel added that he and Herbert are \u201cmuch closer\u201d than they were two weeks ago as they work through the offensive struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be a lonely world as a starting quarterback \u2014 that\u2019s a franchise quarterback \u2014 when you have successive losses,\u201d McDaniel said. \u201cIt can be lonely as a play-caller [or] offensive coordinator. And the only way to approach it is that you\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chargers and their turbulent offense are on the verge of starting 0-3 for the first time since 2017.<\/p>\n

Many outsiders are looking to Herbert to save the franchise from an abysmal season not many projected.<\/p>\n

But to those in the building? They just want Herbert to be Herbert.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that separates him from a lot of other leaders … he\u2019s the same person, each and every day, consistently great at everything he does,\u201d said reserve quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.<\/p>\n

After all, when Herbert\u2019s comfortable, he\u2019s arguably among the league\u2019s top signal-callers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I\u2019ve been with Justin, there\u2019s not a thing I\u2019d change about Justin,\u201d coach Jim Harbaugh<\/a> said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Justin Herbert is prioritizing on-field execution as the Chargers seek their first win. That\u2019s why the seventh-year quarterback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1535,187256,1544,48,52,51,2500,10572,28955,47,50,49,74440,18035,19039,278,187255,776,427,4610,1539],"class_list":["post-476679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-chargers","tag-franchise-quarterback","tag-justin-herbert","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-leadership","tag-league","tag-locker-room","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mcdaniel","tag-offense","tag-road-game","tag-season","tag-seventh-year-quarterback","tag-sunday","tag-team","tag-thing","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}