Harbaugh: Chargers OL needs to give Herbert more time to make throws

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – After the Los Angeles Chargers' 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at SoFi Stadium, coach Jim Harbaugh said his coaching was an important issue and he respected the way the team fought, but He also pointed out the offensive line's inability to protect quarterback Justin Herbert is a concern.

“We have to get Justin another half a second, we can really do that,” he said. “I mean, he tries to get the ball out as quickly as possible and he does. And like I said, I don't have an adjective for some of those throws he made. It's martial-” It's everything in his human power, and even more, the way I see it, it's incredible what he can do, just one more second.

Herbert entered Sunday's game with a right ankle sprain; He wore braces and had a heavy medical plaster on his right foot. Aside from the ankle injury, Herbert played behind a patchwork offensive line that was missing two of his best players at tackle, Rashawn Slater (pectoral muscle) and Joe Alt (MCL sprain).

Herbert's injury and the backup offensive line quickly became a recipe for disaster for the Chargers.

Herbert was sacked twice and pressured on 12 of his dropbacks. He was hit at the time of the throw on four attempts, his most in a game in the past two seasons. That tension intensified in the fourth quarter as the Chiefs pressured Herbert on six of his eight fourth-quarter dropbacks. He was 1 of 5 for 5 yards and sacked once on those plays.

The Chargers incurred nine penalties, including four false starts by the offensive line. Harbaugh said it was a coaching issue.

Herbert said he adjusted his snap cadence for this game to neutralize the Chiefs' defensive line. He said the “easy answer” would be to blame the mistakes on the reserve offensive line, but that they should have been better because they practiced with his cadence. Herbert also added that he could have communicated better at the line of scrimmage.

“We have to remain patient. We have to stand firm and understand that we have to use cadence as a weapon,” Herbert said. “That front seven that we were up against, we felt it was important to be able to stop them, whether it was increasing the cadence, changing different cadence, and unfortunately we had too many penalties.”

In the CBS broadcast, Herbert, who is normally reserved on the sidelines, slammed his helmet on the team's bench in frustration.

“I wouldn’t call it a highlight,” said Herbert. “Just the NFL. part of the game. Emotion.”

As the players exited the locker room after the loss, running back JK Dobbins sat at his locker with a towel over his head and his face in his palms. Dobbins finished the game with 14 carries for 32 yards and three catches for 30 yards, but dropped a pass in the fourth quarter, making the score 10-10.

Dobbins said he was more frustrated than he had ever been in his career. “I just hate losing,” he said. “I haven’t been in a place where I’ve lost much, so I haven’t gotten used to it yet and I’m not going to get used to it.”

The Chargers have a bye in Week 5 and then play the Denver Broncos in Week 6.