The LA Chargers suffered a 27-24 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football but it was not the biggest potential loss of the night. Quarterback Justin Herbert was banged up with a rib injury and despite him toughing it out, it left many fans wondering if Herbert could miss time moving forward.
Herbert was taken in for x-rays after the game and during his media availability on Friday, head coach Brandon Staley updated the NFL world with Herbert's injury status. The star quarterback avoided a fractured rib but and was diagnosed with a rib cartilage fracture.
There is a chance that Herbert returns to practice next week ahead of the team's Week 3 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
#Chargers coach Brandon Staley says QB Justin Herbert was diagnosed with a rib cartilage fracture and that he could be back at practice next week. Staley alluded to this being better than a broken bone.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2022
This is promising news for the Chargers. Based on how the injury is described, it seems like the absolute worst-case scenario would be one missed game for Herbert. Of course, there is still the risk of Herbert suffering a more serious injury if he continues to tough it out, which is something that the team needs to monitor.
This is about as good of news that Chargers fans could have gotten after Thursday Night. Not only is it good for the fans, but, it is even better for Brandon Staley.
Brandon Staley is lucky that Justin Herbert's injury is not very serious for the Chargers.
Staley obviously had no control over Herbert getting initially hurt and that is simply part of football. What Staley did have control over was putting Herbert back in the game when the team was down 10 points with very little time left in the game.
Herbert was able to drive the team down the field for a touchdown to at least creep the door open for a comeback win. Heck, the onside kick even took a bounce off a Chiefs player, giving the Chargers a slight sliver of a chance.
Ultimately, the extremely unlikely comeback fell short and the entire time fans were worried about Herbert. Los Angeles had such a slim chance of completing this comeback that leaving Herbert out there to potentially take more damage was an extremely risky move, especially in Week 2.
If Herbert would have taken a big hit on that last drive that further complicated his injury then Staley would be answering a lot of pressing questions right now. Not only would the Chargers have lost that one game, but they would have lost their chance of making the playoffs if Herbert missed substantial time.
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The Bolts are heading into the easiest stretch of the 2022 schedule with games against Jacksonville, Houston and Cleveland. Winning these games before the schedule gets tougher is imperative and Herbert being ready for those games puts the Chargers in a great position to win.