Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh announced that QB Justin Herbert would not play in Sunday’s regular season finale vs. the Denver Broncos. “The guys that have the most bruises and need the most healing, we’ll pull them back,” Harbaugh said on Monday afternoon.
While the Chargers have a playoff spot clinched, their seeding is still up in the air. Through a variety of possibilities related to Sunday’s games, they can still finish as the fifth, sixth, or seventh seed in the AFC. QB Trey Lance will now get the start as the Chargers figure out which other starters might sit along with Herbert.
Sitting Justin Herbert against the Broncos is the right decision in spite of playoff seeding implications.
Herbert was clearly in some pain vs. the Texans despite playing one of his better games. Cameras in the first quarter caught him grimacing after taking a sack and planting his broken hand onto the ground on one of the teams’ first drives.
He has admirably played through 4.5 straight games with a broken hand since he originally suffered the injury against the Raiders, But what matters in the playoffs is having a healthy Herbert. The Chargers have no hope of winning a playoff game if he isn’t close to 100% with the current roster makeup.
Had the Chargers won against Houston, it would be a different conversation. But as Jim Harbaugh said on Monday, they know they’re going to be going on the road in the Wild Card round. Without the one seed or a playoff home game on the line, the seeding is much less important than team health.
The Chargers were in a similar predicament three years ago. They opted to play the starters despite having the fifth seed locked up. WR Mike Williams broke his back against the Broncos and was forced to miss the teams’ Wild Card loss vs. Jacksonville. Who knows if they win the Jaguars game with a healthy Williams? But it’s certainly not a scenario you’d like to wonder about in the same context with Herbert this year.
Considering that Herbert has been playing for a month through the hand injury, it’s not worth risking him for a minuscule gain of seeding. The Texans and Bills are both massive favorites in their Week 18 finales vs. the Colts and Jets respectively.
Hopefully, the Chargers get reinforcements like LT Jamaree Salyer and LB Denzel Perryman back for the Wild Card round. But the most important reinforcement they can get for the playoffs at this point is Herbert working off of two weeks of rest.
The Trey Lance led Chargers will kick off on Sunday against the Broncos at 1:25 PM PT on CBS.