Chargers coach Brandon Staley let Justin Herbert determine to maintain enjoying injured in blowout loss to Jaguars – Yahoo Sports activities
Justin Herbert was a game-time choice to play Sunday in opposition to the Jacksonville Jaguars after fracturing rib cartilage in Week 2.
Then he lost his blindside protection in the third quarter when Professional Bowl left sort out Rashawn Slater left the sport with a biceps damage. So why — when his Los Angeles Chargers hopelessly trailed in a 38-10 loss — was the franchise quarterback nonetheless on the sphere late within the recreation?
It is a query that surfaced within the fourth quarter as Herbert saved enjoying whereas the Jaguars held leads of 31-10 and 38-10. Head coach Brandon Staley defined the choice when requested about it in his postgame information convention. He left the choice as much as Herbert.
“He wished to be on the market along with his teammates,” Staley said. “He felt good, and he wished to complete the sport. He wished to present our group some vitality.
“And we had been going to guard him there on the finish with actually sound safety — as finest we may. However it was extra about him wanting to complete along with his guys.”
Once more, the Chargers had been enjoying with backup left sort out Storm Norton, who virtually instantly allowed a strain of Herbert upon getting into the sport and completed with a pair of holding penalties. Safety was going to be solely so “sound.” Additionally, it is the coach’s job to make this sort of choice particularly as a result of NFL quarterbacks are usually predisposed to gutting it out regardless of the chance — particularly considered one of Herbert’s caliber.
Let Herbert clarify.
“I simply did not wish to stop on the staff,” Herbert mentioned. “Clearly a troublesome day for us. However did not wish to exit. I felt like we had been getting the ball out fast. I did not wish to stop on my staff.
“Generally you must put your individual objectives behind the staff, and I believe that is what’s most vital. I felt like I used to be secure on the market. And I did not wish to stop on my staff.”
He added that he would not have began Sunday if he hadn’t been assured by the staff’s medical employees that he could be secure.
From a risk-reward perspective, the decision was easy. Take Herbert out of the sport. The upside of holding him within the recreation was decreasing a double-digit deficit to a smaller double-digit deficit. The draw back was continued bodily punishment of an already injured franchise quarterback who did not have his finest lineman on the sphere.
“That was simply the choice that we made,” Staley requested when pressed concerning the choice. “It was about us ending the sport as a staff. And it was vital to us that we did it.”
Fortunately for Herbert and the Chargers, no additional injury was achieved. Herbert completed the sport taking only one sack. The outcome does not imply that Staley made the suitable name.
Staley is without doubt one of the recreation’s brightest younger teaching stars who has made his popularity by making unorthodox, however usually right — based on analytics — selections in high-leverage conditions. Sunday’s name to maintain Herbert within the recreation was not a kind of selections.
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