Justin Herbert Injury: Latest On Chargers QB After Gutsy Effort

Here’s what we know about Justin Herbert after his “Thursday Night Football” showing: The Chargers quarterback is a tough son of a gun.

Specifics about his apparent rib injury, however, are a little tougher to come by. The Los Angeles signal-caller gutted it out after taking a massive hit to the midsection Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Herbert was down on the field grabbing his chest but did stay in the game. He even led an incredible drive to get the Chargers within three, a comeback attempt that eventually fell just short in KC’s 27-24 win.

Chargers head coach Brandon Staley didn’t have much to offer in terms of an update after the game.

“He’s OK,” Staley told reporters in his postgame press conference. “It was a tough game, and you’re not going to see a quarterback at any level of football play tougher or do more for their team, will their team to give them a chance more than him. There’s nobody that can do what he can do. Nobody.”

It’s no surprise Staley didn’t offer more in the way of specifics. More tests might need to be done, etc. But if we were to read between the lines, Staley’s effusive praise for what Herbert did might seem to indicate he was playing through something pretty significant.

Herbert underwent X-rays, and while it sounds as if the Chargers might have dodged a bullet with any sort of break, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a major issue.

“It appears, it seems that X-rays were negative just judging from the words of Brandon Staley, (but) we did not get definitive word on how the ribs or ribcage or rib cartilage or all of that is for Justin Herbert,” NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said on “Good Morning Football” on Friday. “He’s going to have more tests (Friday). Just because his X-rays are negative, if that is the case, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s out of the woods. There are (possible) rib cartilage issues which we’ve seen which can actually be more painful. There’s internal injuries which is obviously the most scary and we won’t know until he goes through a battery of tests (Friday).”

As Rapoport pointed out, the Chargers have extra time for Herbert to rest up by virtue of playing Thursday night. LA returns home in Week 3 to host the Jacksonville Jaguars.