Chargers' Justin Herbert shares bold take on playing through injury vs. Eagles

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert will attempt to play the hero by playing one week removed from surgery when his team hosts the Philadelphia Eagles on the Week 14 edition of Monday Night Football.

Easier said than done. Herbert suffered a fracture in his non-throwing hand in Week 13 and will be almost exactly one week removed from surgery when the Chargers-Eagles encounter kicks off under primetime lights.

Still, Herbert has oozed confidence and optimism all week. Cast-glove hybrid protecting him, the Chargers quarterback was a regular at practice, albeit with limited under-center work.

Asked about how playing with a cast might impact him, Herbert said he’s hoping things take a business-as-usual approach.

“I try to play the game the same way,” Herbert said. “As long as it’s stabilized and fixed, you know, the doctors feel comfortable with it, then I think you can just move on to just playing and just try not to focus on it too much.”

There have been some rumblings about backup Trey Lance entering the game in short-yardage situations because of Herbert’s ability to take a snap from under center in those scenarios.

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert — Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Whether Lance sees the field at all, though, remains to be seen. And if everything else is business as usual for Herbert, ideally, they’d like to prevent short-yardage situations while putting up a healthy dose of points, anyway.

There’s also hope that the expected return of first-rounder running back Omarion Hampton to pair with the effective Kimani Vidal will help the Chargers dominate the game script and ask very little of Herbert, anyway.

Herbert is in luck, though. Names like Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills have played chunks of seasons in recent years with similar injuries to non-throwing hands and done just fine.

Similar to yesterday, Justin Herbert was being handed the ball in today’s #Chargers practice when aligning under center. No issues catching the snap in shotgun. pic.twitter.com/SzyIyKFGqh
— Daniel Popper (@danielrpopper) December 6, 2025

That won’t reduce the stress levels of Chargers fans much if Herbert takes a hit or extends a play with his feet and puts himself at risk. But some of the past proof from other quarterbacks is encouraging and, in the end, he’s right: Doctors cleared him.

Herbert and the Chargers view it as worth the risk, regardless: A win would send them to 9-4 and keep them in the thick of the wild card hunt, while the Denver Broncos currently lead the AFC West at 10-2.

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