Chargers News: Justin Herbert's Finger Injury Could Be Culpable For Scoring Struggles

Is Herbert's hand holding the team back?

The Chargers are 2-4, and after winning their Week 5 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders in close fashion, they are now winless.

The biggest concern is that in the last three weeks, this Chargers offense has only scored 17 points in each contest. What happened?

Well, Herbert suffered a broken finger on his left, non-throwing hand in the middle of the Week 5 matchup against the Raiders.

Herbert has played through the injury, but some are questioning whether the finger is holding this offense back. Jeff Miller of The Los Angeles Times revealed that the injury might be more significant than believed. 

"Starting with the moment Herbert was hurt late in the third quarter, the Chargers have had 22 full possessions and punted on half of them. They’ve produced only four touchdowns and two field goals."

(via Jeff Miller, The Los Angeles Times)

Herbert is still playing right, but in the last two games, he has thrown three interceptions while also completing less than 60% of his passes.

The finger is obviously bothering him and messing up his timing in the pocket; the play action takes a hit, not being able to tuck the ball and also favoring how he hits the ground when being sacked.

"But the Chargers’ offensive downturn is as obvious as the casts Herbert has been wearing to protect his finger. After three games, they were eighth in the NFL in points per play. In the three games since, they’re 18th."



(via Jeff Miller, The Los Angeles Times)

Herbert is playing with a customized glove that fits the cast around his middle finger, but during the Chiefs game, the cast was ripped off during a handoff.

He has already said that the team is working on finding a more secure way to keep the cast on during the Bears game, but we have yet to have official word on what that entails.

Hopefully, the finger will heal quickly, and Charger fans can get back to seeing the play of Justin Herbert take off once again.

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