Justin Herbert's injury scare highlights Chargers' baffling incompetence

Justin Herbert has taken a historic level of punishment this season, yet the LA Chargers have gaslit fans at every turn, acting as if the offensive line is passable. It's never been good enough, and on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, it may have finally come to a head.

Herbert took a menacing hit to the torso on a fourth-down snap that didn't even count because Trevor Penning was flagged for illegal formation. It was one of many devastating hits Herbert took in the first half, and was bad enough to knock him into the blue medical tent.

Backup quarterback Trey Lance started warming up but the Chargers ultimately punted on fourth down to essentially send the game to halftime. Herbert was seen jogging into the locker room at half. Jim Harbaugh refused to provide an update to the broadcast.

Justin Herbert's injury scare is a product of the Chargers' offensive line incompetence

To be fair to the Chargers, no team in the NFL can prepare to lose both of its star tackles to season-ending injuries. Losing Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt is devastating no matter how you spin it, and blaming the Chargers' front office for those injuries would be silly.

However, it's fair to say the Chargers were leaning too much on the star tackles in the team's roster building and it caused the front office to deprioritize the interior of the offensive line. That is where the problems lie.

The Chargers had the same star tackle duo last season and still fielded a bad offensive line product because the interior was so bad. So what did the Chargers do? Essentially nothing.

The only addition the Chargers made to the offensive line was Mekhi Becton, who was coming off one good season with a Philadelphia Eagles team that is known for elevating players and masking issues. Becton has been injury-prone his entire career and had more evidence of poor play than good play.

Well, the Chargers didn't get the Eagles version of Becton. Becton has battled various injuries and has played poorly when he is healthy. In predictable fashion, he left the game against Jacksonville and was replaced by Jamaree Salyer. Surprise surprise.

What about the other two starting offensive linemen from last season? Well, the Chargers decided to do nothing. Zion Johnson and Bradley Bozeman are starting yet again after being terrible last season. To his credit, Johnson has improved and has probably been the best offensive lineman for the Bolts this season.

But that right there lies the problem. An offensive line that has Zion Johnson as its best player is a bad offensive line. Johnson should be the "weak" link of a great offensive line, not the best member of the offensive line.

Bozeman has somehow gotten worse. He was already one of the worst centers in the league last season and he has only gone backward. Why the Chargers brought him back nobody knows. Because he is a locker room leader? His leadership doesn't make up for his atrocious play.

If the Chargers committed more resources to the entire offensive line, and were smart about the additions they made, the situation would be drastically different. Yes, the offensive line would still struggle without Alt and Slater. That would always happen.

However, instead of having an offensive line that a high school could generate pressure against, the Chargers would at least have a unit that could give Herbert some layer of protection. At the very least, he wouldn't be getting hit at a historic rate.

But hey, it's not like the entire fanbase was pounding this drum and saw this coming back in May! Oh wait...