Jim Harbaugh came out of Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals with a clear regret: the Los Angeles Chargers should have given their offensive starters more preseason work.
After a shaky opener, Harbaugh said Monday that the team’s limited preseason exposure showed up in the form of mistakes that felt too familiar for this stage of the year.
"We made some preseason type of mistakes," Harbaugh said during his Monday press conference. "Now in retrospect, I wish we'd played our guys a little bit more in the preseason and given them those reps."
That admission lands against the backdrop of a Chargers offense that was reshaped around quarterback Justin Herbert this offseason. Los Angeles added former Pro Bowl tight end David Njoku, fourth-year running back Keaton Mitchell and several offensive linemen, including center Tyler Biadasz. The team also brought in former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator in January.
But the preseason usage never really matched the amount of change. Herbert and other key starters were held out for most of it, with the 28-year-old quarterback taking only seven snaps total across two games.
The lack of reps seemed to show Sunday. After Omarion Hampton scored the Chargers’ first touchdown with 4:27 left in the first quarter, the offense stalled until Herbert connected with Ladd McConkey a little past six minutes left in the third quarter. McConkey then exited soon after with a rib injury and did not return for the fourth quarter.
The finish was messy from there. Herbert threw an interception in the fourth, Los Angeles also turned the ball over on downs twice, and Herbert was sacked three times in the loss.
Harbaugh didn’t sugarcoat the performance afterward.
"Some uncharacteristic things happened," Harbaugh said postgame. "Give (the Cardinals) credit for making them happen.
I would call it sloppy at times. Too sloppy.
That's something we need to get fixed."
In Other News...
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L.J. Casons return to Ann Arbor this week carried a little extra weight for Michigan fans who remember how much promise surrounded him before injuries and offseason turnover changed the picture. The three-star guard arrived under Dusty May, spent his lone season in the program during the national title run and then saw that year interrupted by a torn ACL, a sequence that made his exit feel less like a routine transfer and more like another reminder of how quickly the roster shifted.
Cason said Mays departure for the Dallas Mavericks played a major role in his decision to enter the portal, and he ultimately landed at Miami. Even so, coming back to receive his championship ring gave him a chance to reconnect with the program and speak about what he sees ahead for Michigan, a conversation that only added to the lingering what-if feeling among fans who wondered what his next chapter might have looked like in Ann Arbor. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Faces Pressure To Hold Off Rivals For Key Legacy Recruit
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The competition is far from limited to Ann Arbor, though, with Kentucky, Illinois and Pitt all still in the picture as Ray works toward a decision that could come by winter. For Michigan, the appeal is obvious: this is the kind of recruit who matters beyond rankings, both because of where hes from and because of what his last name already means around the program. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Hail Mary Controversy Now Has An NCAA Admission
The final sequence of Michigans win over Western Michigan has moved from a one-off officiating gripe to something the NCAA itself has now addressed. The FBS Oversight Committee acknowledged that instant replay protocols were not followed correctly on the games last plays, a confirmation that gives fresh weight to the debate around how the finish was handled.
Even so, the result is staying put. NCAA bylaws do not allow the game outcome to be changed, so Michigans victory will remain official, even as the Mid-American Conference pushed for Western Michigan to be recognized as the winner for ranking purposes. For the Wolverines, it means the record book is safe, but the controversy around the ending is not going away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]