It was another rough day for Justin Herbert vs. the Washington Commanders in terms of pass protection from his offensive line. He was sacked four times on 14 pressures. In the last three weeks, he's been sacked 11 times on 58 pressures. He was only pressured 19 times in the team's first two weeks. A lot of that is attributable to the Bolts' injury problem on the offensive line. They've lost Rashawn Slater, Joe Alt, and Mekhi Becton has been in and out of the lineup.
Another issue that has contributed to the pass rush pressure heating up on Herbert are miscommunications. The Chargers are making mistakes on stunts and assignments in recent weeks that they weren't making in their first few games.
Perhaps the most noteworthy incident that garnered the most attention this past week was Bradley Bozeman and Herbert not being on the same page about protections at the line. It allowed DT Daron Payne to get right into Herbert's grill and blow up the play.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert tries to take the heat off of center Bradley Bozeman for a key presnap missed assignment.
For the first time since Sunday's loss, Herbert was asked about the play where Payne got to him as a free rusher because of Bozeman's mistake. He had this to say:
"It's a rare occasion. You know that's one of those things we talk about and I know he wasn't meaning to do anything like that," Herbert explained. "Boze has been on his stuff every other play. A common mixup and we're going to be better. We talked it through as soon as we got off to the sideline, we said 'you know we're not going to let that happen again'. It was all good."
Herbert was also asked about who has the final protection call on the line between himself and Bozeman. "I do. He (Bozeman) goes up there originally and he makes the point so we can move quickly. And then if I see anything based on safety rotation or certain looks, then I can switch it."
The Chargers probably won't have Alt again this week if early practice schedules and the general timeline of a high ankle sprain are any indication. If they're going to beat the Dolphins, the offensive line simply can't allow the amount of free pressures and sacks that they have been over the past few weeks.
That falls on all the starters, but particularly on the interior with the possibility of Jamaree Salyer and Austin Deculus starting.
The number of hits Herbert is taking is unsustainable. And Chargers fans know all too well what happens when he takes several hits too many.