Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, left, is sacked by Houston Texans defensive end Logan Hall during the second half on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Herbert was sacked eight times in the 44-22 loss but did not suffer a fracture in the middle finger on his left hand, X-rays taken on Monday revealed. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, left, is sacked by Houston Texans defensive end Logan Hall during the second half on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Herbert was sacked eight times in the 44-22 loss but did not suffer a fracture in the middle finger on his left hand, X-rays taken on Monday revealed. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
EL SEGUNDO — Justin Herbert did not suffer a fracture in the middle finger on his left hand during the fourth quarter of the Chargers’ loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday, X-rays taken on Monday revealed. He’s expected to be on the field when the team resumes practicing Thursday.
Herbert was forced from the game after throwing a 58-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston, breaking an unseemly streak of 37 consecutive possessions without a TD, dating to Kimani Vidal’s 42-yard touchdown run during the Chargers’ loss to the Denver Broncos on Oct. 11.
Herbert was hurt when he was sacked for the eighth and final time Sunday, two plays before connecting with Johnston on only his sixth TD pass of the season.
Wide receiver Ladd McConkey is considered day-to-day after back spasms sustained during the pregame warmup kept him from playing in the Chargers’ 44-22 loss to the Texans. Coach Jim Harbaugh said McConkey tried to work out the spasms in the hope of playing, but to no avail.
Tight end David Njoku and linebacker Denzel Perryman will “continue to ramp up” in preparation for their returns to the active roster and to perhaps play Monday night against the Ravens in Baltimore, Harbaugh said. Njoku (fibula) has been out since Week 3 and Perryman (pectoral) hasn’t played yet this season.
Seven Chargers players remained on injured reserve heading into Week 10: safety Derwin James Jr., backup quarterback Trey Lance, fullback Alec Ingold, center Tyler Biadasz (season-ending knee surgery) and offensive linemen Rashawn Slater, Trevor Penning and Trey Pipkins III.
DEADLINE LOOMS
The NFL trade deadline is set for Tuesday at 1 p.m. PT, but despite plenty of chatter about the Chargers’ possibly trading some of their key players, it appears highly unlikely they will deal Herbert, McConkey or outside linebacker Khalil Mack and begin a midseason roster overhaul.
To be sure, the Chargers aren’t happy about their 0-8 record, but that doesn’t mean they’re willing to begin a sell-off the way the Indianapolis Colts did in the weeks leading up to the deadline. Herbert, McConkey and Mack are believed to be too important to flip for draft picks, for example.
It doesn’t mean the Chargers won’t do anything, however.
“I know Joe Hortiz (and) I’ve never been around a more active person when it comes to trying to make our team better,” Harbaugh said of the Chargers’ general manager. “Evidence two months ago, before the 53(-man roster) countdown, we traded two players and got two sixth-round picks. So, yeah, if there’s something that makes sense, he is pursuing and active.”
In fact, the Chargers traded cornerback Avery Smith to the Seattle Seahawks for a sixth-round pick in 2027 and defensive lineman TeRah Edwards to the Carolina Panthers for a sixth-round selection in 2028. Smith and Edwards were each undrafted free agents playing in positions with plenty of depth on the roster.
Harbaugh said he has had and continued to have conversations with Hortiz about potential deals, many of which they dismissed out of hand. In other words, the Chargers weren’t open to sending Herbert to the New York Jets for their three first-round picks in ’27, as a hypothetical.
“They’ve been about making the team better now or in the future both,” Harbaugh said of his talks with Hortiz. “That’s always the conversation. A couple of them have been brought up that haven’t made sense to him and couldn’t make any sense to me, either. Yeah, he’s shared.”
FAMILIAR FACE
Jesse Minter spent two seasons as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator before leaving in January to become the Ravens’ head coach. He will see his old team for the first time for a “Monday Night Football” matchup that promised so much when the schedule was revealed back in May.
Who could have predicted the Chargers would be 0-8 or that the Ravens would be 4-5 and without standout quarterback Lamar Jackson, and then would be forced to acquire Jacoby Brissett from the Arizona Cardinals last week? Jackson is likely lost to the Ravens for the rest of the season.
“I love Jim Harbaugh and a lot of people in that building (in El Segundo) and, obviously, Joe Hortiz, the defensive staff,” Minter told reporters in Baltimore on Monday. “I mean, those are guys I worked with, most of them for the previous four years (going back to the University of Michigan).”
When relayed Minter’s comments, Harbaugh smiled and said, “We love him, too.”