After playing with a massive glove on his hand after having surgery on his broken non-throwing hand earlier in the month, Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers saw their chances of winning the AFC West come to an end with a Week 17 loss to the Houston Texans.
With their playoff future effectively locked in as a Wildcard team alongside the 11-5 Buffalo Bills and Texans, the Chargers have decided to give Herbert a bye to heal up during the regular season finale, with Jim Harbaugh noting he will not play against the Broncos in Week 18, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Would it have been interesting to see the Chargers and Broncos duke it out with the division on the line in Week 18? Most certainly, but when news broke that Chris Oladokun would be getting the start for the Kansas City Chiefs following injuries to both Patrick Mahomes and Gardner Minshew, those chances took a nosedive.
Fortunately, there will still be some intrigue in Week 18, even if neither team opts to field much more than a preseason-caliber roster, with San Francisco 49ers' 2021 first-round pick Trey Lance set to earn his first start in a powder blue and yellow jersey. If Herbert suffers a setback, or Greg Roman simply wants to get nostalgic with a few Lamar Jackson-esque QB runs in the playoffs, giving Lance some reps could prove valuable for a Chargers team with Super Bowl aspirations.
