Justin Herbert isn’t buying the idea that the Chargers suddenly need more from him as a voice in the locker room.
With Los Angeles heading into Week 3 against the Bills, Herbert pushed back on the suggestion that he should be more vocal. His message was simple: the leadership is already there, and the focus is on cleaning up the football.
“I think that would imply that there’s no need for vocal leadership before this week,” Herbert said, via PFT. “I think every week is a super important week for us and it’s a great opportunity for us to go play football again and correct the things that we made mistakes on last week and keep pushing forward.”
Herbert said the Chargers are locked in on fixing the issues that have shown up early.
“I don’t think there’s a lack of vocal leadership at all,” Herbert said. “So, I’m going to stop you right there and say that it’s very present.
I don’t think anyone is panicked or worried because that’s not going to be the sentiment. It’s moving on to the next play and understand that we’re close, we’ve made mistakes, how do we fix it?”
In Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes had a different kind of cleanup on his mind after the Chiefs’ 33-30 win over the Colts pushed them to 2-0. The reigning powerhouse is winning, but Mahomes knows the offense left points on the table in the red zone.
“Yeah, I think as an offense, you saw,” Mahomes said, via Charles Goldman of AtoZSports.com. “I mean, we had more opportunities to score touchdowns.
We kicked some field goals there in the red zone. It came down to just little things with miscommunications or route depth or me not making the the right read and getting to the right guy at the right time.
So, those are the little things you have to continue to get better and better at because you don’t know how many of those opportunities you’re going to get when you’re in the red zone. And I mean, I love kicking field goals, and they’re three points, but touchdowns are so big in this league, and you want to make sure that you can execute and get those.
And so we have to get better at that of executing, kind of in the red zone, getting those touchdowns because that’s what wins you football games.”
The Raiders, meanwhile, are also 2-0 after beating the Chargers 26-14, and Klint Kubiak had plenty of praise for Kirk Cousins after the veteran quarterback stood in and delivered under pressure. One of the biggest plays came on a 42-yard strike to Tre Tucker, a throw Kubiak called a difference-maker.
“He’s a competitor; he wants to win. That’s why he’s here,” Kubiak said, via Sam Warren of The Athletic.
“And that throw that he made in two-minute to Tre, that was a big time throw. He’s made a lot of those throughout his career and that really sparked us.”
Cousins also helped move the chains on a trick play to Dareke Young on fourth down, even while taking a shot from Chargers EDGE Bud Dupree.
“I could see Reke over the field and knew I had to chuck and duck and that’s what I did,” Cousins said. “I was really pleased with that design and having the play ready to go in a big part of the game.”
Kubiak said the Raiders still have work to do in pass protection after Cousins was hit 10 times and sacked twice.
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Raiders Face A 3-0 Test Against A Saints Wrinkle They Must Solve
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One possible answer is to lean into personnel that can help steady the picture and give the offense more flexibility. The Raiders may turn to fullback Connor Heyward in 21 personnel, a setup that could help them counter the Saints pressure looks while opening up more options around the formation. It is the kind of adjustment that does not guarantee clean answers, but it does give Las Vegas a path to keep its offense from getting boxed in by a defense that is clearly looking to force one. [Read more 🡒]