The Los Angeles Chargers 2023 season was put on life support by the Denver Broncos in Week 14. Hosting their AFC West rivals, the Chargers embarrassingly lost the game, 24-7, dropping their record to 5-8 on the season.
As if losing the game wasn’t bad enough, the Chargers are going to have another significant injury to deal with. Star quarterback Justin Herbert injured the index finger on his throwing hand in the second quarter of the game, which led to him being sidelined.
Heading coach Brandon Staley didn’t provide much of an update after the team’s game, saying there was no information available about a timetable to return. The team would know more in the next few days, but the update on Monday morning was not a positive one.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Herbert is not expected to play in Week 15. The Chargers are set to head on the road and face another AFC West rival, the Las Vegas Raiders, on Thursday Night Football but are going to be doing so without their starting quarterback.
Schefter added that Herbert will be meeting and consulting with Dr. Steven Shim to determine how bad the injury is and how long he will be sidelined. For now, the Thursday Night Football matchup will be Easton Stick against Aidan O’Connell.
“It’s obviously tough,” Herbert said. “You feel bad for hanging the team out like that. You never want to be taken out of the game … it is something that we’ll know more as the week goes on and if there’s any chance to play, I’ll do everything I can to be out there.”
This is a brutal blow for the Chargers, who need to win out to have any chance of making the playoffs for a second straight season. Not having Herbert in the lineup is a monumental obstacle to overcome as he was the only player keeping the team afloat in most weeks.
Given the current state of the team, it would not be surprising if Herbert was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Once their playoff hopes are dashed, there would be no reason for the Chargers to rush him back to play in meaningless games.
Since taking over as the team’s starting quarterback in Week 2 of the 2020 season, Herbert has started every game. That is the second longest streak by an active quarterback, with only Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills with 84 topping him.
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