With quarterback Justin Herbert set to undergo season-ending surgery, who will the Los Angeles Chargers turn to?

At 5-8 on the season, it would be fair to say that the Los Angeles Chargers are not in the best shape following a Week 14 loss. To make matters worse, the team will have to play the remainder of the campaign without its starting quarterback.

Justin Herbert to undergo an operation on his finger.

According to an announcement from the team on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Chargers will now have to cope without quarterback Justin Herbert for the rest of the season due to the fact that he will have to undergo an operation to repair his fractured right index finger. To that end, Herbert was placed on injured reserve and was actually due to have surgery on Tuesday following a meeting with hand specialists. The news comes following a disappointing loss to 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, a game in which Herbert appears to have injured his finger.

The moment in question occurred during the second quarter of the game, when Herbert completed a pass to tight end Donald Parham Jr. As Herbert made the throw, he was hit by Broncos defensive end Zach Allen. Though he didn’t immediately leave the game, it wasn’t long before he made his way to the sideline and eventually the locker room, after which he did not return. It was backup quarterback Easton Stick who stepped in for Herbert. Speaking on Monday, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley spoke about what’s most important at this time where Herbert is concerned. “All of our focus has got to be on his future,” Staley said. “Certainly, there’s nothing more important than that, than his right hand. And his long-term future. He’s 25 years old and he’s got a really, really bright future in front of him. So, like I said, every decision we make is going to be with that in mind.”

It’s been a consistent run for Justin Herbert...until now

Impressively, the Chargers’ next game will mark the first time in Herbert’s career that he will miss a start. Indeed, across his four seasons in the NFL, he has played 62 straight games making it the second-longest streak by an active quarterback. In case you’re wondering it’s the Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen who holds the record with 84 consecutive games played. Incidentally, this is the second time that Herbert has fractured a finger this season. Back in Week 4 the 25-year-old signal caller broke the middle finger of his non-throwing hand during a win against the Las Vegas Raiders but did not miss any time.

So, it’s Easton Stick going forward?

As mentioned before, Easton Stick was the man who stepped into the fray after Herbert left it. On the night the 2018 fifth-round pick went 13-for-24 for 179 yards and zero touchdown passes or interceptions. Needless to say, the Chargers will need a lot more from him if they are to have any hope of saving their season. With their present record, the team is two wins outside of a wild card spot and has now lost four of its last five games. That’s to say that even if they manage to beat the Raiders, Bills, Broncos, and Chiefs, they will need favorable results in other games if they are to make the playoffs. As we said at the beginning of this, the Chargers aren’t in good shape and things just got worse.