CHARGERS
Why isn’t Justin Herbert playing for the Chargers against the Raiders?
The Chargers quarterback will miss the next four weeks of the season as LA looks to Easton Stick to start against the Raiders for Thursday Night Football.
The Chargers have been dealt some pretty bad news heading into Week 15 of the NFL season. Quarterback Justin Herbert underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a fracture to his right index finger and has now been placed on Injured Reserve. That means, not only is he missing tonight’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, but that he’ll miss the next four weeks of the season. If you counted correctly, that’s the rest of the regular season.
At 5-8, their chances of making the playoffs are already quite low. There are six teams with 7-6 records ahead of them fighting for the final two Wild Card spots in the playoffs. With Herbert out, it will be a difficult road.
What happened to Herbert?
Herbert suffered the fracture to his finger last week in the second quarter during their 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos. He was not immediately ruled out, but once they announced the surgery, there was no question.
“It’s obviously tough,” Herbert said after the game on Sunday. “You feel bad for hanging the team out like that. You never want to be taken out of the game.”
This will be Herbert’s first time ever to miss a game due to injury in his NFL career. He has started 62 consecutive games since he made his debut in Week 2 of the 2020 season. In fact, the only quarterback with a longer active streak of consecutive starts is Bills QB Josh Allen (84).
Herbert will finish the season with 3,134 yards, 20 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a 65.1% completion rate through 13 games.
Easton Stick to start vs Raiders
With Herbert out, Easton Stick is in for the Chargers against the Raiders. The Chargers brought Stick back as a free agent this past offseason and have high hopes for him to play well to end the season. In college, he had 49 wins and two national titles with North Dakota State. In 2019, he was the fifth-round pick in the NFL Draft. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley is among those who believe in Stick.
“He’s really sharp. He studies, he’s a gym rat, and he gives you that dimension with his legs,” Staley said. “That’s important with your backup quarterback, that you have that element of mobility, because you know that teams are probably going to pressure and stuff like that.
Stick went 13-of-24 for 179 yards when he took over for Herbert last Sunday, which was his first NFL appearance since Week 7 of the 2020 season.