The Los Angeles Chargers are suiting up their starters in the preseason on Saturday against their crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Rams. While this decision is controversial, Jim Harbaugh has seemingly given the tea leaves that this was player-driven. One of the biggest motivators, in fact, was Justin Herbert and his desire to compete.
Herbert has never played a preseason game before and is now looking to change that. Is this a mistake? Or the right move given the current state of this Chargers roster?
Justin Herbert Has Never Played A Preseason Game Before – Jim Harbaugh Is Changing That
Justin Herbert
May 12, 2025; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws the ball as coach Jim Harbaugh watches during offseason workouts at The Bolt. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Justin Herbert’s History (Or Lack Thereof) In Preseason Games
Yes, you read that correctly: a star quarterback who has been in the league since 2020 has not played in a single preseason game. Herbert has been quite unfortunate in terms of his offseason and his ability to be on the field.
2020 – The Year The World Shut Down
While the first thing that comes to mind is injury, this inability to see action in the preseason has stemmed from a plethora of different issues. Herbert’s first season in the NFL was 2020, the year COVID-19 shut down the entire world, and had the NFL completely shut down preseason games.
Even in a rookie season without any preseason games, Herbert went on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year in one of the greatest rookie Quarterback showings ever. He did so in 15 games, as well.
2021 To 2023 – No Risk Needed To Be Taken With Justin Herbert in the Preseason
Now, as an official superstar of the league, the Chargers’ then Head Coach, Brandon Staley, opted not to play Justin Herbert in the preseason during his entire tenure as Head Coach. This lasted from 2021 to 2023. His philosophy was to avoid injury and give more unproven players the opportunity to prove themselves, leaving proven players to rest.
While this allowed Herbert to continue to avoid injury, the firing of Staley is a sign that this philosophy may have had some downsides.
2024 – Insert Jim Harbaugh… But No Change Occurred
Jim Harbaugh enters the building to lead the Chargers into a new direction. This has to start somewhere, and in the preseason, he knew that he would be without his Quarterback, Justin Herbert.
This rammed its ugly head throughout the course of Harbaugh’s first preseason, having atrocious play from their backup quarterbacks, an amalgamation of Easton Stick, Luis Perez, and Max Duggan.
This ugly play led to the trading of Taylor Heinicke and possibly the decision in 2025 to allow Herbert to make the decision to play in the preseason.
Both Sides Of The Preseason Mentality
Playing the starters in the preseason has been an ongoing discussion for as long as it has been possible. In the early eras of the NFL, it was always that rugged, “tougher than thou” mentality that had coaches play their starters in games that, quite frankly, do not matter.
That said, injuries piled onto players that would eventually lead them to miss time in games that actually do matter. An issue that eventually led to coaches arguing that playing backups only in the preseason is the only viable option.
This approach allowed more insight into back-end roster players, while keeping the starters healthy for the regular season. This, on paper, sounds like the approach to go with, but like all things, it isn’t perfect.
Starters would go into the first week or even first few weeks of the regular NFL season and look completely out of place. A lack of true game time reps being a major culprit into this issue, allowing for the playing the starters in the preseason mentality to continue.
Is This A Good Change? Will The Bolts Come to Regret This?
With a brief idea of both sides, how does this change for the Chargers and Justin Herbert affect their 2025 season?
Harbaugh has seemingly noted that this will only happen for a “series or two” to give Herbert the opportunity to “see a pass rush” getting him some real reps against NFL athletes who really are fighting for their livlihoods.
A good idea on paper, allowing for Herbert to really hit the ground running once the true NFL season starts, but one question must loom in the back of the mind of every Chargers fan… what if this goes wrong?
I mean, they just Rashawn Slater to a freak injury, what if another starter goes down and misses significant time in the 1-2 drives that Harbaugh is promising. Is this a risk that is worth taking?
A question that has been asked since forever, a question with no real answer. Only time will tell, with “I told you so’s” being thrown from whatever side deems correct this go-around.