Herbert Hurt His Left Hand in the Texans' 44-22 Rout, Was Sacked a Career-High Eight Times, and Says He Will Play at Baltimore
The Chargers quarterback injured the middle finger on his non-throwing hand in the fourth quarter Sunday; coach Jim Harbaugh said it could be a fracture. Herbert finished 13 of 23 for 193 yards against a Houston defense that got to him all afternoon.
The Houston Texans' defense did more than decide Sunday's game at SoFi Stadium - it may have dented the Los Angeles Chargers' next one, too. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert injured the middle finger on his left, non-throwing hand during the fourth quarter of Houston's 44-22 win, Reuters reports via Field Level Media, and coach Jim Harbaugh said the injury could be a fracture, keeping Herbert out of the closing minutes despite the quarterback's desire to keep playing. The team is still assessing the severity.
Herbert's own verdict came quickly. Los Angeles visits the Baltimore Ravens, 4-5, next Monday night, and he said he plans to be available: 'Shouldn't be an issue,' he said after the game. 'I'll do whatever I can to make sure I'm 100%.' That is a player's intention, not a medical clearance - the assessment Harbaugh described will decide it - but it is where the week starts.
The injury capped the roughest afternoon of Herbert's season, and Houston authored most of it. He was sacked a career-high eight times, and finished 13 of 23 for 193 yards with one touchdown and one interception - his 11th of the season, the most in the NFL. Through eight games he stands at 144 of 235 for 1,591 yards, six touchdowns and those 11 interceptions, for a Chargers team that fell to 0-8 in the loss. When Harbaugh finally sat him, backup DJ Uiagalelei made his NFL debut in the fourth quarter and went 2 of 7 for 24 yards, throwing a 15-yard touchdown to Derius Davis in the closing minutes.
For Houston, the line that will travel is the sack total: eight, a career worst for one of the league's most durable passers, in the Texans' most convincing performance of the season - the game this station filed Sunday as Stroud's five-touchdown rout. The Texans visit Cleveland next Sunday. The Chargers' week now runs through a trainer's room in Los Angeles: whether the finger is fractured, and whether 'shouldn't be an issue' survives the assessment, are the two questions Monday night in Baltimore will answer.
