COSTA MESA — Justin Herbert was furious. The Chargers were locked in a tight game Sunday with the Green Bay Packers, facing a 16-13 deficit with 7:40 remaining in the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play clock ticked down to zero and yellow flags flew and officials’ whistles tweeted.
Delay of game on the Chargers, a five-yard penalty.
Herbert slammed the football to the grass in frustration, yelling at center Will Clapp.
It was a rare show of emotion from Herbert, whose poise under pressure is one of his greatest strengths. He celebrates with his teammates after a good play, consoles them after a misplay and is generally one of the guys. But he’s not one to display flashes of anger, as he did Sunday.
“That’s a great thing,” Chargers coach Brandon Staley said, smiling broadly when asked about Herbert’s brief temper tantrum. “It’s just a competitor out there competing. He and Will are tight. There’s a lot that goes on out there in the game. There’s no one who cares more than Justin. I love seeing that.”
Herbert and the Chargers recovered from the delay of game penalty to take a 20-16 lead after a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keenan Allen with 5:24 remaining in what would become a 23-20 loss to the Packers. Herbert completed 21 of 36 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns.
Spiking the football in frustration after a penalty was not one of his proudest moments Sunday, something he acknowledged days later. He acknowledged apologizing to Clapp, repairing their friendship, and to the rest of the Chargers’ offensive line and blaming himself for the penalty.
“Football is an emotional game,” Herbert said. “It got the best of me.”
Herbert said he couldn’t remember reacting in such a negative way. But he certainly wasn’t the first NFL quarterback over the years to show emotion when something went awry. Philip Rivers, a former Chargers quarterback of some renown, wasn’t one to keep his emotions in check.
“I think there can be good things about it,” Herbert said of showing his emotions. “Obviously, I apologized to Will and I never meant to put him in that position. I feel like, with our offense, everyone’s comfortable with each other and we can talk to each other in a way if something’s not what we want.
“I know that anyone can come up to me and talk to me and say, ‘Hey, this is the way I want things or this is the way it should be.’ Having that ability to talk with your teammates like that, I think that helps your offense and I think that it helps your team. I know the offense line is going to give me a hard time here and there.
“But I did it for the best of the team. I’d love to have that back and be able to control that a little better, but I think that’s it’s important to speak up, especially when something is on your mind like that.”
Staley wasn’t going to second-guess Herbert’s judgment. Staley saw it as another step in Herbert’s growth as a quarterback and as the leader of the Chargers’ offense. This is, after all, Herbert’s fourth season since the Chargers selected him sixth overall in the 2020 draft.
Staley wasn’t worried about negative feelings lingering, either.
“I think that’s part of being a quarterback, you have to use your judgment,” he said. “It’s good to go with what you’re feeling sometimes. When you’re in the heat of competition, there are going to be times when it gets edgy. When you’re the quarterback, there’s no one that is more responsible for more than you.
“Him and Will are great teammates, Will and him have an awesome connection. They’re not the only center-quarterback tandem in the history of the league to have something like that happen. All you have to do is go on YouTube to find any of the great players that have ever played that position (in that situation).”
