Jim Harbaugh sends blunt message to Chargers' quarterback room

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh made it abundantly clear how he feels about the rest of the Chargers' quarterback room during his media availability on Thursday. First, Harbaugh was asked about his plan for the quarterbacks on Saturday vs. Seattle:

"Easton's starting the game. Somewhere around a quarter and a half," Harbaugh said. "20 to 30 plays, that's what's in my mind. Max will come in, then we'll be able to get Casey and Luis in there as well. It was their best practice today."

LA now has four possible options to rotate into their preseason game. Stick essentially seems locked in at QB2 regardless of what happens in the preseason. The training camp reps have been essentially administered that way.

The three way battle between Max Duggan, Casey Bauman, and Luiz Perez is where it gets interesting. And Harbaugh let the Chargers' other backups know exactly what the Perez signing means for them:

"I mean you know how I feel about competitors, right? Competition is the best thing there is. Competitors welcome. I though Easton (Stick) wasn't really having any competition, enough competition at the position he was at. And the only way to make someone better is, you know, get competition in there. Message to Max (Duggan) and Casey (Bauman). We gotta step up the game. And we liked the workout Luis had and what he's been able to accomplish in his career, and his story."

"We wanted to put him (Perez) in the mix really for Easton."

The Chargers quarterbacks have struggled during training camp

The Chargers' offense in camp has reportedly struggled to generate much sustained success following Herbert's injury. While not exactly surprising that the offense wasn't doing well without its' star quarterback, it seems that Duggan and Bauman didn't even clear the competitive backup bar that Harbaugh was looking for.

The training camp struggles for Duggan don't come as a surprise. He struggled to really integrate himself in much of last preseason and camp due to the lack of pocket awareness and processing. Bauman was routinely fourth behind Herbert, Stick, and Duggan throughout camp. There haven't been many highlight reel moments for either.

Perez led the UFL in touchdowns and yards with the Arlington Renegades this past season. He is now the oldest member of the Chargers' quarterback room as he turns 30 later this month. On Tuesday, OC Greg Roman said that he received many external recommendations to take a look at Perez over the summer.

Harbaugh said he would essentially go down the line for the backups after Stick's "quarter and a half" with Duggan, then Bauman, then Perez playing. How their snap counts fluctuate from week to week in both camp and the preseason could determine the direction the Chargers move in for their final roster.

Stick, Duggan, Bauman, and Perez will each get a chance to show what they've got on Saturday at 4:05 PM PT vs. Seattle.