Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.

Laura Rutledge finally explains that awkward Justin Herbert interview

Originally posted on NFL on ClutchPoints
By Andrew Korpan, ClutchPoints | Last updated Jan 7, 2026 1:39 PM ET

After leading his team to a Monday Night Football victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert awkwardly avoided an interview with ESPN’s Laura Rutledge.

Now, about a month later, Rutledge has cleared the air about the awkward interview with Herbert, whom she called “amazing,” during an interview with Front Office Sports.

“I get it, not everybody wants to do these interviews, right? We’re there to do our jobs, they’re there to do theirs, and I actually credit him for still standing there and doing the interview,” Rutledge said. “But for background reference, we okay these interviews with the team. So the team has PR. We got to the PR, we make sure they know, ‘O.K., so you’re gonna get this person, this is how it’s all going to go.'”

“We’re there to do our jobs, they’re there to do theirs, and I actually credit him for still standing there and doing the interview.”

ESPN’s Laura Rutledge unpacks the on-field interview moment with Justin Herbert. pic.twitter.com/QhOsawQwhc

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 6, 2026

Before the game even kicked off, Rutledge knew she’d be interviewing Herbert afterward. The Chargers won in dramatic fashion after an overtime interception thrown by Jalen Hurts.

Rutledge tried to give Herbert “some space” and “as much time as possible” after the game ended. However, she had people in her ear telling her, “You’ve got to get him.”

It doesn’t sound like Rutledge is taking anything personally. She knew that Herbert may not have been in the best spirits, despite the team’s win. Ultimately, she still had a job to do.

“It was interesting because I know he had been through so much,” she conceded. “I mean, he had a broken hand, and he was frustrated, I think, with the way that some of the parts of the game had gone and he had been so tough. He had played so well with everything he was dealing with. But I completely changed my interview structure because I wanted to get him out as fast as possible.

“I didn’t want to keep him any longer than we had to. I’m so sensitive to somebody not wanting to necessarily be there. … He doesn’t want credit. He loves to give credit to his teammates. I think that was a lot of the reason why it went the way that it did. But again credit to Justin for sticking through it—and doing the interview. No hard feelings by me,” Rutledge concluded.

This article first appeared on NFL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: