Los Angeles Chargers coach Anthony Lynn defended his decision to leave quarterback Justin Herbert in for all four quarters of Sunday’s blowout loss.
The Chargers fell to the New England Patriots 45-0 on Sunday, and there was little doubt about the outcome of the game in the second half. Lynn removed most of the Chargers’ starters before the end of the fourth quarter. The exception was Herbert, even though the rookie quarterback was under constant pressure and took three sacks and 11 total hits.
Lynn explained, according to Daniel Popper of The Athletic, that Herbert wanted to stay in and try to avoid the shutout. Lynn also added that it was important for young quarterbacks to learn how to play through adversity.
Curiously, Herbert later said he did not recall any conversations with Lynn about coming out of the game.
Lynn isn’t going to get a lot of support here. Herbert was getting beaten up, and risking injury to teach the franchise quarterback a thing or two about adversity isn’t a worthwhile tradeoff. It makes even less sense when considering that Lynn didn’t think any of the other starters should stay in. It’s no wonder we’re starting to see reports like this emerge as the Chargers’ season goes down the drain.
