COSTA MESA, Calif. — Justin Herbert will see two specialists on Monday to see what the next steps will be after sustaining a fractured right index finger, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley said.
His availability is in question not only for Thursday but also for the rest of the season.
“We’re just going to get the information from these specialists and then go from there,” Staley said.
After Sunday’s loss against the Denver Broncos, the Chargers quarterback mentioned that he will try to do everything in his power to return to the field.
The question arose of whether he should play again this season.
The team sits at 5-8 with a short week playing at Raiders, Bills come to LA, go to Denver, and finish in LA against the Chiefs. Even if he played, that is a tough finish.
“All of our focus has to be on his future,” Staley explained. “There’s nothing more important than that, than his right hand and his long-term future. He’s 25 years old. Has a really, really bright future in front of him. Every decision that we make is going to be with that in mind.”
That is what is important because Herbert is the face of the franchise and is signed to a $262.5 million contract.
They haven’t ruled him out for Thursday or the rest of the season, but it will be the Easton Stick show if he doesn’t play. He had a decent showing on Sunday, throwing a nice 57-yard pass to rookie Quentin Johnston, then on the next play, a 22-yard completion.
“I think that our team has been watching him now for three years — some of them for longer, he’s been here since 2019,” Staley said. “They believe in Easton [Stick]. They know what he can do. I did think, in the second half, he did some things that we definitely need to build off of for this Thursday night.”
Thursday night could feature Stick versus Aidan O’Connell, completely different from what was originally expected.
Another player to watch is receiver Joshua Palmer, who practiced last week, and the team activated his 21-day return window.
“He was able to get on a practice field last week, which was a good sign,” Staley said. “Again, we’re going to make sure that we do what’s best for him, but he has been progressing on the practice field.”
