No one in the Chargers’ locker room felt as bad as Justin Herbert. At least that’s what the quarterback claimed after a career-high four interceptions last January cost the Chargers an opportunity at their first playoff win since 2018.
But the disappointment that rendered Herbert motionless on the sideline in Houston had faded in his memory, he said. Offseasons tend to have that rejuvenating effect.
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“If I spend any more time worrying or focusing on a loss like that, I would be doing a disservice to my teammates,” Herbert said Wednesday on the second day of Chargers minicamp. “Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted it to, like I said at the end of the year, but you gotta move on.”
Despite the crushing wild-card loss that prolonged the Chargers’ seven-year playoff win drought, Herbert maintained that his offseason has been business as usual.
Meeting with local reporters for the first time in five months, Herbert recited the typical offseason lines with a stone-faced expression. His new teammates are picking up the offense quickly. He wants to continue mastering the scheme in his second season under the coaching staff.
Herbert instead makes stronger statements on the practice field and in the weight room, where his determined nature has earned him a spot in coach Jim Harbaugh’s “Elite Nine” club of the team’s hardest workers.
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“I know it motivates me every day to get up out of bed, like I gotta rise up to his level,” Harbaugh said. “He’s doing anything and everything he can possibly do. Now it’s up to the rest of us.”
During the offseason, the Chargers focused on adding weapons around Herbert to elevate a sputtering offense that ranked 20th in the NFL in yards per game.
Even without pads, the athleticism and instincts of running back Najee Harris and rookie Omarion Hampton have impressed Herbert. Rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden is showing his receiving capabilities as Syracuse’s all-time leader for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end when he had the most catches of any player during team drills Wednesday. Gadsden, a converted wide receiver, will team with free-agent acquisition Tyler Conklin, who has had at least 50 catches in each of the last four seasons, to boost the tight end position.
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The biggest offseason move was the addition of a familiar name. Mike Williams, after one year away from the franchise that drafted him in 2017, returned on a one-year contract to reunite with Herbert. The 6-foot-4 receiver who has been working primarily with trainers during minicamp practices “changes the way you play football when he’s on your team,” Herbert said.
“50-50 balls are not quite 50-50 as we’ve seen with Mike,” the quarterback added.
The receivers could use the boost. Ladd McConkey was the group’s only consistent force last year. The former second-round pick dominated against Houston with an NFL rookie playoff record 197 yards receiving, nine catches and one touchdown. The rest of his teammates combined for five receptions and 45 yards. Still without a playoff win in two appearances entering his sixth NFL season, Herbert completed a career-low 43.7% of his passes and was sacked four times.
Chargers rookie running back Omarion Hampton warms up with teammates during a workout last week. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Getting Williams and rookie receivers Tre’ Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who were selected in the second and fifth rounds, respectively, on the field could open up a more aggressive deep passing game, offensive coordinator Greg Roman said.
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The stacked room also could put more pressure on Quentin Johnston to live up to the billing of a former first-round pick. The receiver entering his third year is “owning the system now,” said Roman, who predicted another major step for Johnston this season.
The former Texas Christian star shook off a disappointing rookie season with 711 yards receiving and eight touchdowns on 55 catches last year. He torched the Las Vegas Raiders in a playoff seed-clinching Week 18 win for 13 receptions and 186 yards receiving. Even Johnston estimated that it was the best game he’d ever had at any level of football.
Yet he followed with a major disappointment in the biggest moment with no catches on five targets in the wild-card loss. Johnston went without a catch in two games last season, both coming in marquee matchups. He was also shutout against the Baltimore Ravens in a “Monday Night Football” showcase in which he also dropped a crucial third-down pass. To pile on, fellow receiver Zay Flowers, who the Ravens picked one spot behind Johnston in the 2022 draft, led Baltimore with 62 yards receiving on five catches.
Learning a second offense in as many years in the NFL, Johnston had to play “a game of catch up last season,” Roman said. But with consistent practices in organized team activities and minicamp, the coach said Johnston is “starting to come out of the other end of the tunnel.”
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“Justin, he’s throwing to him a lot,” Roman said, “and Q’s answering the call.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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