Jim Harbaugh isn’t turning on Justin Herbert, even with the Chargers stuck in a nightmare start and their quarterback sitting at the bottom of the league in QBR.
Los Angeles is 0-7, and Herbert’s rough opening to the 2026 NFL season has only intensified the noise around the team. The questions are obvious at this point: what’s wrong with the quarterback, and why hasn’t the offense found any traction? For now, the Chargers’ coaches are answering with support, not blame.
The Sporting News’ Matt Sullivan reported that offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and Harbaugh both defended Herbert to NFL media. Harbaugh did acknowledge that Herbert made “two throws he would have liked to have back,” but he still backed his starter firmly.
He said Herbert “did his job exceptionally well,” a line that sits in sharp contrast to the numbers, including Herbert’s league-worst 32.6 QBR.
Interceptions have been the biggest problem, and the criticism has gotten ugly. Opposing defenders have taken shots at Herbert, saying he is “seeing ghosts” and throwing “deli meat” during games.
Even with the public defense from Harbaugh, the Chargers are still searching for their first win. If the losses keep piling up, Herbert is likely to keep hearing plenty more of that kind of talk.
That said, Herbert’s play hasn’t been the only issue. Plenty of his teammates have struggled too, and the team around him has not played well enough to help steady the season. Herbert still has the talent he has shown over multiple NFL seasons, but his recent stretch has raised real concern among those following the Chargers.
And until the results change, the pressure isn’t going anywhere.
In Other News...
Justin Herbert Faces A Bigger Chargers Problem Than Rival Trash Talk
A week after a loss, Justin Herbert found himself answering for more than the Chargers record. Rams safety Quentin Lake took aim at the quarterbacks recent play, and the comments quickly turned into another layer of scrutiny around a season that has already left Los Angeles searching for answers. Jim Harbaugh stepped in to defend Herbert, while Herbert said he had not even been aware of what was said, a reminder that the noise around the team is growing louder than the results on the field.
For Herbert, the larger issue is not a rivals criticism so much as the way the Chargers have looked while staying winless. The conversation has shifted from isolated mistakes to a broader concern about whether the offense is getting enough from its franchise quarterback, and whether the team can stabilize before the outside chatter starts to feel like the easy part of the problem. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Herbert And The Chargers Are Now Getting Mocked By Opponents
The Chargers latest loss only added to the frustration around a season that has gone off the rails, and it also produced an unflattering side note for Justin Herbert. After the Rams beat Los Angeles, Rams safety Quentin Lake had plenty to say about Herberts passing game, turning a routine rivalry result into another reminder of how rough things have become for the Chargers offense.
Herbert finished 24 of 32 for 257 yards, but the numbers came with two interceptions and no touchdowns, and the Chargers remain stuck at the bottom of the league in scoring. For a team already searching for answers at 0-7, getting mocked by an opponent after the fact is the kind of extra sting that tends to linger. [Read more 🡒]
Harbaugh Doubles Down As Chargers Offense Faces Early Pressure
The Chargers are still searching for their first win, and Jim Harbaugh is not making a change at the top of the offense. He confirmed that Mike McDaniel will keep calling plays, a sign the team is sticking with its current structure even as the early-season pressure grows around a unit that has yet to find its footing.
That leaves the focus on execution rather than a shakeup, with the burden shifting back to the players to sort out what has gone wrong. Around the division, the conversation is already turning to other quarterbacks and other fronts, but for the Chargers the immediate question remains whether this offense can settle in before the frustration starts to build even more. [Read more 🡒]