It was a sluggish offensive night for the Chargers at SoFi Stadium as they once again failed to crack double digits. Easton Stick and Luis Perez both struggled to finish off drives for the Chargers.
Stick in particular had two turnovers in Rams' territory. One interception where he missed a wide-open Simi Fehoko cost LA's offense some momentum. A fumble on the Rams' goal line off of his hands ended what would've been an almost surefire scoring drive. Stick took responsibility for the fumble at his postgame presser: "Just dropped the snap. I dropped it. It was on me, hit my hands, and I dropped it."
While the effort from Stick wasn't as bad as his last performance from a statistical perspective, it certainly didn't raise confidence in the current backup quarterback room. Stick finished the first half with 85 yards, an interception, a fumble, and a 48.6 passer rating.
At media availability, Harbaugh consciously chose to give Stick a vote of confidence. When asked for his thoughts on Stick's performance, Harbaugh noted that he liked how the Chargers' backup improved from week to week. On Thursday, Harbaugh revealed it would be Stick starting the second preseason game after what he called an impressive week of practice.
Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh on backup quarterback situation: "I'd like to see another week of improvement from Easton like I saw this week."
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) August 18, 2024
Easton Stick still appears to be the Chargers' QB2... for now
Harbaugh announced that Stick would indeed be the starter in the Week 3 preseason finale vs. Dallas. At last week's post-game media availability, the Chargers' head coach declined to name a starter. One week later, he's seen enough to give an upfront endorsement to Stick.
After two weeks of games where Stick had sub-50 passer ratings and three total turnovers in the preseason, it simply begs the question of whether the Chargers have the current QB2 on the roster.
With plenty of choices currently available and some quarterbacks who will be roster cut candidates from other teams, it just doesn't make sense to approach this season on such shaky ground at backup QB with Herbert injured.
However, Harbaugh went on to say that Herbert's injury recovery is not currently in his backup quarterback calculus. When asked whether Herbert's injury would impact the backup quarterback room: "No. Why would it? We have one of the best starting quarterbacks in the world, the next quarterback up would be under the same expectations if Herbert was there or wasn't there."
Stick and Perez will both get one more chance next week vs. the Cowboys. But again, one has to wonder if that game will actually decide who gets the backup job.
After no particular standout performances at quarterback and active negative plays in back-to-back weeks from Stick, Joe Hortiz should frankly pick up the phone to make calls for other vet backup options.