Justin Herbert is one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL, but the 2023 season has not been an easy one for the Los Angeles Chargers quarterback.

He has been forced to play with a broken finger on his left (non-passing) hand, and that injury has caused issues for the quarterback and his team. One of the reasons for the problems he has faced is that broken finger is constantly in the back of his mind. He must protect the injury on basically every snap of the ball.

There are specific areas of concern — such as catching shotgun snaps from center — that must be accounted for when a quarterback plays with a broken finger. When a quarterback is thinking about anything but the play at hand and the way his receivers are running patterns, it can take away from his timing and accuracy.

Those are the factors that determine a quarterback's overall effectiveness, and his ability to lead his team to victory. Herbert looked extremely sharp in the Chargers' Week 8 victory over the Chicago Bears, but he appeared to struggle in other games and the broken finger appeared to be the reason behind those struggles.

Justin Herbert and the Chargers will attempt to even their record at 4-4 Sunday when they go on the road to take on the New York Jets. This game is likely to be a much bigger challenge for the Chargers than their previous game against the Bears because the Jets have one of the most dangerous defenses in the league

While Herbert's injury is getting better, the Jets pass rush could cause problems for his hand injury.