The Los Angeles Chargers hit a new low on Sunday, and they may have lost their quarterback for part of it.
Justin Herbert hurt the middle finger on his left hand, his non-throwing hand, late in a 44-22 home loss to the Houston Texans. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said afterward that the Justin Herbert injury “could be a fracture,” and the team is still waiting on a full diagnosis. The loss dropped the Chargers to 0-8, a record almost nobody saw coming from a team that entered the season expected to contend in the AFC West.
Herbert, for his part, says he plans to play next week.
How it happened
Herbert came out of the medical tent late in the fourth quarter wearing a glove on his left hand with a wrap around one finger. By then, Houston had the game well in hand, and the Chargers sent in backup DJ Uiagalelei to finish it.
Harbaugh said Herbert wanted to go back in, but the coaching staff decided against it. “Could be a fracture, we’ll find out,” Harbaugh told reporters.
Herbert sounded far less concerned. He told reporters the finger shouldn’t be an issue and that he would do whatever he could to be 100% for next week.
There’s history here. Herbert fractured a finger on that same left hand in 2023 and played through much of that season with a splint, according to BoltBeat. Because it’s his non-throwing hand, a similar setup could be an option again.
A brutal day behind a broken line
The finger is only part of the story. Herbert spent most of Sunday on his back.
He was sacked a career-high eight times for a combined loss of 40 yards. One of those sacks came on fourth down in the third quarter and ended a drive with Houston already ahead 31-9. When he wasn’t being hit, he didn’t have much to work with. Herbert finished 13-of-23 for 193 yards with one touchdown and one interception, his 11th of the season, which leads the NFL.
| Justin Herbert vs. Texans | Total |
|---|---|
| Completions/attempts | 13-of-23 |
| Passing yards | 193 |
| Touchdowns | 1 |
| Interceptions | 1 (NFL-high 11th) |
| Sacks taken | 8 (career high) |
Coming into the game, Herbert had 1,398 passing yards, five touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season, according to Bleacher Report. Those are not the numbers of a quarterback who signed one of the richest contracts in the league. They’re the numbers of a quarterback stuck in an offense that isn’t working.
The streak that says it all
Here’s the stat that best explains the Chargers’ season. Before their late fourth-quarter touchdown on Sunday, they had gone 37 straight drives without a touchdown, according to Yahoo Sports.
That is longer than the 30-possession drought the 2024 Miami Dolphins went through under Mike McDaniel. McDaniel is now the Chargers’ offensive coordinator, which only adds to the pressure he’s facing.
Harbaugh didn’t have an easy answer at halftime either. Asked by CBS about the offense, he said the team just has to keep digging deep.
Houston did whatever it wanted
On the other side, C.J. Stroud had his best game of the season. He completed 21 of 35 passes for 384 yards and five touchdowns, with one interception, against a Chargers secondary that couldn’t keep up. Tank Dell had 105 receiving yards and a touchdown, a performance that put him on our Week 10 waiver wire list.
The win improved Houston to 3-5 and kept its season alive. The Texans visit Cleveland next.
How the season got here
The Chargers didn’t fall apart in one afternoon. Before Sunday, they had already lost back-to-back games to Kansas City and the Rams, two of the toughest opponents on their schedule. The Houston loss was supposed to be a chance to steady things at home. Instead, Houston built a 38-9 lead before the Chargers finally found the end zone.
The problems show up everywhere. The offense can’t protect its quarterback or finish drives. The defense gave up 44 points and five touchdown passes. And with every loss, the conversation in Los Angeles moves a little further from “how do we fix this” toward “what comes next.”
CBS Sports has already listed the Chargers as a possible seller, naming Mack, cornerback Donte Jackson, receiver Quentin Johnston and tight end David Njoku as players other teams could target.
The bigger question for the Chargers
At 0-8, the Chargers are no longer chasing the playoffs. They’re trying to avoid a place among the worst seasons in NFL history.
That raises a real question about Herbert. Some voices have already called for the team to protect him by sitting him, including a Fox Sports column arguing that Harbaugh should bench his quarterback to keep him healthy. With eight sacks in one afternoon and a possible fracture, that argument will only grow louder this week.
Harbaugh has so far kept his core together. He said last week that the team isn’t trading pass rusher Khalil Mack, even with Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline approaching. Whether the Chargers sell anyone else before the cutoff is one of the storylines to watch. Our NFL trade deadline guide tracks every move.
What it means for fantasy
Herbert had already fallen into low-end QB2 territory in most fantasy leagues before the injury. Even if he plays through it, the pass protection makes him hard to trust. Uiagalelei completed two of seven passes for 24 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut, and he isn’t a fantasy option at this point.
What’s next after the Justin Herbert injury
The Chargers play at Baltimore on Monday night in Week 10, which gives Herbert an extra day to heal. The Ravens are 4-5 and will likely start Jacoby Brissett, who was acquired last week with Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley both out.
After that come the Jets, Patriots and Buccaneers, a stretch that could offer the Chargers their best chance at a first win. The first step is learning whether Herbert’s finger is broken. FieldPylon will update this story when the Chargers share the results.
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