EL SEGUNDO — Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert will not start, play a backup’s role or suit up for the team’s regular-season finale against the Broncos on Sunday in Denver, Coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday. The Chargers made the decision based on the need to have a healthy-as-possible Herbert ready for the playoffs.
Herbert fractured his left, non-throwing hand during the Chargers’ victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 30 and underwent surgery the next day. He has played with varying degrees of effectiveness over the course of the past five games, leading the Chargers (11-5) to four straight victories before Saturday’s 20-16 loss to the Houston Texans.
“The guys who have the most bruises and need the most healing, we will pull them back,” Harbaugh said. “Justin Herbert would be one. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes with who all they are (who sit out against the Broncos). There are going to be some situations where starters are backups.”
Trey Lance will start Sunday for the first time with the Chargers, his first action since replacing Herbert for a total of 10 snaps while Herbert was checked out by the team’s medical staff after he fractured his hand on a scramble play in the first quarter of a 31-14 victory over the Raiders.
Lance has made three relief appearances this season, completing 7 of 13 passes for 90 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. His last start was the finale of the 2024 season while with the Dallas Cowboys when he completed 20 of 34 for 244 yards in a loss to the Washington Commanders.
DJ Uiagalelei will be the backup and Herbert, a Pro Bowl pick this season, will not dress on Sunday.
Harbaugh said he had not delivered the news to Herbert, as of Monday afternoon. Harbaugh acknowledged not knowing how Herbert would take the news, adding that “winning and (being) healthy, that’s our two objectives.” Herbert last missed a start after breaking his right index finger in Week 14 of the 2023 season.
“The doctors, the trainers, myself, the organization,” Harbaugh said of who made the decision to rest Herbert for a game that will settle who the Chargers will face in an AFC wild-card game. “The ones with the most bruises, who need that time (off) the most, we decided that’s the direction we will go.”
Several others who have been nursing injuries might sit out Sunday, as well, including wide receiver Derius Davis, defensive backs RJ Mickens and Benjamin St-Juste, offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer and running back Kimani Vidal. Herbert’s name was the biggest on the list, though.
“Those conversations will take place during the week,” Harbaugh said.
The Chargers headed into their final game of the regular season as the sixth-seeded team in the AFC, but they could end up either fifth, sixth or seventh depending on the outcome of their game against the Broncos plus the results of several other games around the conference.
A victory over the Broncos plus a loss by the Houston Texans to the Indianapolis Colts would secure the No. 5 seed for the Chargers. There also are several other scenarios that could lead to the Chargers clinching the fifth seed, but they would require multiple games to go their way.
The Chargers would clinch the sixth-seeded spot with a victory over the Broncos or a loss by the Buffalo Bills to the woebegone New York Jets or a tie with the Broncos and a tie by the Bills or a tie with the Broncos and a loss by the Texans. A loss to the Broncos would drop the Chargers to seventh.
It will be up to Lance, not Herbert, to try to lead the Chargers to a victory Sunday.
“He prepares extremely well and executes well,” Harbaugh said of Lance, a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2021 whose career hasn’t taken off as expected because of injuries and playing behind established quarterbacks such as Herbert and also Dak Prescott of the Cowboys.
“He can throw outside the numbers, can throw with a touch, can throw with accuracy, has a presence out there, can use his legs, his athleticism, his intelligence. It’s all good. I just think he needs the opportunity to play and to start and go out and show what he can do.”
