Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked for his thoughts and plans going forward at the quarterback position this preseason. It was a rather underwhelming night for Easton Stick as the starter.
Stick was 5/13 for 31 yards with an interception. He had the worst passer rating of the night with a 14.6. Aside from some late deep shots from Luiz Perez toward the end of the game, it was an underwhelming night for the offense as a whole.
First, Harbaugh was asked if he was comfortable with the backup quarterbacks given Justin Herbert's current injury:
"I don't think we're in a position to be comfortable," Harbaugh said. "We just gotta attack it. We gotta attack the improvement. I think there's a lot there to be had. But yeah, comfortable is not the word I would use. I don't think anybody on the offensive side of the ball would be happy with that. But I mean you address it, that's 11 guys. It's the unit. Back to work."
Daniel Popper of The Athletic later asked if Harbaugh would consider looking outside of the building for more competition in the quarterback room. The Chargers' HC gave a rather open answer by saying, "anythings possible." The team signed Luiz Perez last week. He got his first preseason action late in the fourth quarter with a few splashy completions.
Jim Harbaugh refuses to name a Week 2 starting QB for Rams-Chargers
On the topic of preseason Week 2 starter, Harbaugh refused to commit to Easton Stick or any of the quarterbacks in the room:
"To be determined. But I would say we're going to look at it, evaluate all positions this week. Why wouldn't we? I mean I'm not naming a backup week 2 starter at quarterback right now. I will let this week's practice reps determine that. Fair enough, right?"
When asked for further clarification on Stick, Harbaugh stood on his answer:
"I said I'm not naming it. Not naming the Week 2 starting quarterback. I will let practice determine that."
There's no way around the reality that the quarterback room as a whole lost tonight. Any confidence that the Chargers had a viable Herbert backup has to have wavered after a rather low-energy offensive performance.
Stick had a chance to likely clinch the backup quarterback job with a solid enough, game managerial-type performance vs. Seattle. But the Chargers' 2019 draft pick could now face more scrutiny over this performance than he has in a long time. While he's still a ways away from losing the QB2 job, the possibility of LA considering other options was definitely opened up tonight.