Herbert gritting it out to set tone for team

Retired quarterbacks describe how there is more at stake than just the pain in one's hand.

- BY SAM FARMER

ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times

CHARGERS QUARTERBACK Justin Herbert fractured his left hand in a win against the Raiders on Nov. 30.

It’s not the optimal path — Justin Herbert finishing the Chargers’ season with a cast on his nonthrowing hand — but it’s not a unique one, either.

Herbert suffered a fracture in his left hand last Sunday when it collided with the helmet of a Las Vegas Raiders defender. The quarterback handled the hit with such little fanfare that TV only took notice minutes later, after he had thrown a touchdown pass on the subsequent play.

He underwent surgery last Monday to stabilize the break and was limited in practice all week. Barring any setbacks, Herbert remains hellbent on playing in Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

That’s part of the life of a quarterback, the expectations of toughness and stoicism and the reliance on improvisation, even when a hand is swaddled in a cast or heavy brace.

"The doctors will tell you this one sentence that determines whether you're going to play: 'You are can’t hurt it any worse,'” said retired NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who played for 18 seasons through all sorts of injuries. “That doesn’t mean you won't be in excruciating pain. You probably will. It means you're not going to break it worse, and the remedy is still the remedy.”

The issue isn’t throwing the ball. Herbert is right-handed and doesn’t need his left hand to pass. But it’s in taking a snap from under center — all of his remaining snaps against the Raiders were from the shotgun formation—and handing off on runs to his right, which normally he would do with his left hand.