Justin Herbert ruled out of Wednesday’s practice with ankle injury, leg contusion

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert missed Wednesday’s practice with thigh and ankle injuries. Herbert said the ankle injury is a sprained ankle and the thigh injury is a contusion. Both injuries are to his left leg.

He suffered both of them in Sunday night’s loss at the Kansas City Chiefs — the ankle in the first quarter and the thigh late in the second quarter.

Herbert said the sprained ankle is the “main reason” he missed Wednesday’s practice. He said he did not know if it is a high or low ankle sprain. Herbert played through a right high ankle sprain earlier this season. When asked about practicing Thursday, Herbert said, “It really is day by day.” The Chargers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

“It’s how you feel,” Herbert said. “If I wake up tomorrow and I go check in with the trainers and I say, ‘Hey, I feel like I can run,’ I’m sure they’re going to be pretty patient with me, understanding that we got to make sure that we ramp up and pass all these checkpoint to be good.”

Herbert said neither he nor the training staff thought he could provide his teammates with “full-speed reps” in Wednesday’s practice.

“We were all on the same page with that,” Herbert said.

Herbert said he suffered the ankle injury on a third down on the opening offensive series of the game. On the play, Herbert escaped pressure up the middle and took off scrambling. He deked to his left before cutting right into the open field. Herbert broke a tackle, then was dragged down by Chiefs defensive lineman Mike Danna.

Danna wrapped Herbert up by that left ankle, and it twisted awkwardly as Danna made the tackle.

Herbert did not miss a play after the ankle injury. He said the training staff re-taped his ankle on the outside of his cleat with spatting tape. He returned for the next series.

Felt comfortable going back out there,” Herbert said.

Herbert said he was experiencing some pain while warming up throwing on the sideline. He said he felt the pain when “rotating and kind of stepping through the throw.”

“It was difficult to play with,” Herbert said.

Herbert added that the Chargers limited the playbook over the remainder of the game.

“I didn’t feel great running out of the pocket,” Herbert said. “But it was just one of those things that you have to battle through.”

On a third down late in the first half, Herbert escaped pressure to his right. He then threw downfield to receiver Quentin Johnston along the right sideline. After the throw, Herbert took a shot from linebacker Nick Bolton, who made contact with Herbert’s left leg. That is when he sustained the thigh contusion.

Herbert left the game for a play because of the contusion. He said this missed play was not related to the sprained ankle. Herbert returned for the next series and finished the game.

Taylor Heinicke replaced Herbert for the one play. Heinicke scrambled for 12 yards. Heinicke was taking snaps from the starting offensive line during the period of Wednesday’s practice open to media.

These are just the latest ailments in what has been an injury-riddled season for Herbert. He missed three weeks of training camp with a plantar fascia injury. He sustained the right high ankle sprain in a Week 2 win over the Carolina Panthers. He finished that game but was in a walking boot in the locker room afterward.

Herbert started the next week at the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he was knocked out of the game in the third quarter after taking a hit. Heinicke replaced him. Herbert started the next week at the Chiefs, but he was far from 100 percent. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman said last week that Herbert “could barely move” in that game.

Herbert said this ankle injury is “probably not as severe” as the sprain earlier this season.

“It’s definitely painful enough to be able to miss a practice,” Herbert said. “But I felt like I’ve been able to move around a little bit better this week than I did after Carolina where I was put into a boot and had difficulty walking. But I think we’re farther along this week.”

Over the past few weeks, Herbert has been wearing a sleeve on his left leg. He said Wednesday that he has been dealing with swelling in his left knee. He called the knee swelling a “separate injury” from the ankle sprain and the thigh contusion.

“You’re just doing everything you can to compress it, keep it warm,” Herbert said.

Herbert has dealt with significant injuries in his football career. He broke his femur in high school. He battled through fractured rib cartilage for nearly the entire 2022 season, an injury he also suffered at Arrowhead Stadium. Herbert also tore his left labrum late in that season, which required surgery in the offseason.

“It could always be the ribs. It could always be a femur,” Herbert said, while knocking on the wooden lectern in the news conference room. “This is nothing compared to that.”

The hallway outside the visiting locker room at Arrowhead is rather narrow. After suffering the fractured rib cartilage in 2022, Herbert got imaging taken in the X-ray room. When he emerged, he walked gingerly down that hallway to the bus. It was a similar scene Sunday night, with two injuries to his left leg. Herbert walked down that hallway with a noticeable limp.

A lot of limping in Kansas City.

“It’s a long walk, too,” Herbert joked.

Herbert brought some levity several times in his Wednesday news conference. When he was asked to confirm that this ankle injury is on a different leg than the early-season high ankle sprain, Herbert said, “Yup, got both of them covered.”

Smiling through some pain.

“To fight through this, it’s part of the game,” Herbert said. “I think that’s one of the things that has made this locker room so special, is all those guys are so tough.”

Required reading

(Photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)