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Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh started with quarterbacks Easton Stick (2) and Justin Herbert at cut-down day before adding Taylor Heinicke. (Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
Taylor Heinicke is not supposed to be in the spotlight like this. The backup quarterback stood in front of his locker that was full of freshly laundered sweatshirts and spoke to a group of reporters as concerns about starter Justin Herbert’s ankle loomed. After the gaggle dispersed, Heinicke could return to his main task.
Heinicke sat down and pulled a tablet onto his lap. Game film was already on the screen.
Even in a state of uncertainty with Herbert’s ankle injury, the Chargers quarterback room remains calm, anchored by the backups whose jobs are to stay in the shadows while still being prepared to take center stage.
Heinicke and Easton Stick are under no delusions that they can sling the ball like Herbert, but the quarterback trio’s skillsets overlap in one key area.
“The most important thing in that room,” Herbert said, “is everyone wants to win.”
Chargers quarterback Taylor Heinicke (8) came off the bench to replace an injured Justin Herbert against the Steelers. (Matt Freed / Associated Press)
The star quarterback still could play Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs (1:25 p.m. PDT) at SoFi Stadium, where the Chargers (2-1) are hoping to end a five-game losing streak to their AFC West rival.
Herbert played last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers with almost no practice time and still finished with 125 passing yards and one touchdown before reinjuring his ankle in the third quarter.
As Herbert limped toward the sideline, falling to the ground near trainers once he got off the field, Heinicke calmly trotted on. Unfazed, the NFL journeyman called it, “same as usual throughout my career.”
Since going undrafted in 2015 after a record-setting career at Old Dominion, Heinicke primarily has been a backup during a seven-team NFL tour. He became a national name in 2020 when he went from…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/justin-herbert-mends-chiefs-game-100127814.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-09-27 10:01:27
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