The Pittsburgh Steelers are scheduled to play quite a few good quarterbacks during the 2024 season. One of those is coming up this Sunday in Justin Herbert, but an ankle injury suffered in Week 2 has put his status in question.
Ian Rapoport offered an update on Herbert during Friday morning’s episode of Good Morning Football on NFL Network.
“The Los Angeles Chargers have a situation with Justin Herbert, their star quarterback. He was limited in practice yesterday dealing with an ankle injury,” Rapoport said. “Had X-rays, had an MRI after the game. My understanding was it was mostly clean, so it didn’t seem to be a major injury, but obviously something that has been limiting Herbert this week.
“He was, I would say, extremely limited yesterday. Shown heavily taped, really moving very little. He is going to try to get out there. It sounds like the Chargers expect him to get out there. You just wonder how actually effective Justin Herbert is gonna be against the Steelers.”
The Chargers are practicing this week in Charlotte, N.C. — they played the Carolina Panthers last Sunday and stayed in the Tar Heel state — to make the travel easier. Herbert didn’t practice on Wednesday and was listed as limited on Thursday. According to Rapoport, that was “extremely limited.”
From what Jim Harbaugh has said, it seems likely they will push Herbert to play, but that doesn’t seem like a great situation going up against the Steelers’ excellent defensive front. The Chargers have been a run-first unit through two games. That should help relieve pressure on Herbert, but he will still need to be able to move around the pocket some, otherwise they will be forced into a one-dimensional game on offense. At that point, it might be best to roll with backup QB Easton Stick.
Stick started four games for the Chargers last season and went winless with 111 completions on 174 attempts for 1,129 yards three touchdowns and an interception. It wasn’t awful, but he obviously isn’t the caliber of quarterback that Herbert is.
The last time the Steelers played against Herbert, his mobility was a problem for them. Mike Tomlin talked about it after the game as one of the reasons they lost 41-37 on the road.
Herbert has only been sacked two times through the first two games. His offensive line has been very solid, which also helps ease some of the concerns. But he also hasn’t faced T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, Alex Highsmith, and company yet. Friday’s injury report and game designation could be pretty telling, and this could be a developing story all the way up until 90 minutes before kickoff when the inactive lists are announced.
