The Chargers are turning to a familiar face as they chase their first win of the season, and this one comes with a family connection. Patrick Herbert, Justin Herbert’s brother, is set to make his NFL debut when Los Angeles travels to face the Buffalo Bills.
It’s a timely move for a team that has stumbled out of the gate. The Chargers dropped their first two games by 12 points apiece, and Justin Herbert has had a rough start while the offense has struggled to get moving. Now the quarterback gets a new target he knows well, even if the timing is driven more by necessity than convenience.
Los Angeles had to patch things up at tight end after two injuries hit the group. That opened the door for Patrick Herbert to be activated for Sunday’s game against the Bills, with David Njoku and Charlie Kolar both out.
Herbert’s path to this moment has been a winding one. He played at Oregon from 2019 to 2024, following the same college route as Justin, and appeared in 43 games for the Ducks. In that stretch, he caught 31 passes for 388 yards and four touchdowns, though his game has been defined more by blocking than by production as a receiver.
After going undrafted in the 2025 NFL draft, Herbert spent last season on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. He has yet to appear in an NFL game, which makes this matchup his league debut.
For Sunday, Herbert is lined up behind Orande Gadsden and Hayden Rucci, but he could still see the field depending on how the game unfolds.
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Former Charger Says Justin Herbert Is Still Paying For The Same Problem
Justin Herberts latest stretch has only sharpened the familiar debate around how much help the Chargers have given him. Former nose tackle Breiden Fehoko added his voice to it, taking aim at general manager Joe Hortiz and the Spanos family while arguing that the franchise still has not built enough around its quarterback. The criticism lands against a rough Chargers start to the 2026 season, with Herbert again carrying the weight of a lineup that has not consistently protected him or eased the pressure on the offense.
Fehoko pointed to the same old issues that have followed Herbert through much of his tenure, from sacks to turnovers, as evidence that the problem is bigger than one bad stretch. Herberts recent play has kept the Chargers afloat at times, but it has also underscored how much the team continues to ask of him. The frustration now is not just about one game or one season, but whether the organization has done enough to give its best player a real chance to thrive. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Face An Early Buffalo Test That Could Define This Team
The Chargers first real road measuring stick comes quickly, with a Week 3 trip to Highmark Stadium to face the Bills in a game that already feels like more than an early-season checkpoint. Los Angeles will take the field in its white-on-white look, while Buffalo breaks out its Nickel City alternate gray uniforms, giving the matchup a little extra stage presence before the football even starts. Fox will carry the game with Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady on the call, and the forecast calls for 66 degrees and light northeast winds, so the setting should be about as clean as the stakes are high.
What could complicate things even more is the officiating assignment, with Clete Blackman and his crew set to work a game that figures to draw plenty of scrutiny anyway. Blackmans crew has developed a reputation for a heavy whistle, and that matters in a matchup where every drive, every field-position swing and every discipline issue could loom large for a Chargers team trying to see what it really is this early in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Already Face A Real Omarion Hampton Trust Problem
Omarion Hampton has been too important to the Chargers offense to come off the field, but the first two games of the 2026 season have already put a spotlight on the one thing Los Angeles cannot ignore. Hampton has handled a heavy workload and found the end zone, which is part of why the Chargers continue to view him as their lead running back, yet the early returns have also included two fumbles and a growing need for cleaner finishes to his runs.
The latest turnover came against the Raiders, when a late-game fumble helped set up a touchdown and made the margin for error feel even smaller. For a Chargers team leaning on Hampton for production and stability, the issue is not whether he can carry the offense, but whether his ball security can keep pace with the role they have handed him. [Read more 🡒]