Justin Herbert joins the list of injured NFL stars this season. We are only 2 weeks into the games and the athletes are already dropping off like flies. There are many on the injury list from the LA Chargers who were monitored during the three practice days this week, and Herbert’s progress doesn’t look that promising.

While his team won with a 26-3 score against Carolina, Herbert unfortunately got injured in the third quarter of the game after a hit he received to his ankle. Back then, things didn’t seem that serious because the tough guy was back on the field shortly after getting checked.

The head coach seemed absurdly optimistic about the injury by claiming that the QB will get better with each passing day. Well, we hate to break it to you folks, but it seems like Herbert might take longer than what Jim Harbaugh would have wanted for him.

The Chargers QB has finally been diagnosed with what appears to be a high ankle sprain. At least this is what online reports say about the injury, anyway. “It’s not great. it is what it is, it’s about getting treatment and making sure it’s at it’s best for Sunday,” he told Alex Indsorf, who posted the update on social media.

Although it’s only Friday, Herbert seems skeptical about his appearance during the Steelers game this Sunday. At first, he may have been confident about his return, but the probability of his return has surely turned upside down and we would have to wait for further clarification.

As for the official injury report, Los Angeles noted that their QB did not practice at all during the past Wednesday and Friday. He did show up for a partial training on Thursday, but that might not be enough to cut him a place on the roster for the match against Pittsburgh Steelers.

Does Justin Herbert already have a replacement?

Herbert’s updates were not the most positive ones to begin with, but the passing hours have worsened the situation for the team from a fan perspective. The high ankle sprain that he is recovering from might take 3 weeks or more to let him get in the best potential health before descending on the gridiron. We get that the Chargers may want Justin Herbert as quickly as possible, but they surely wouldn’t put him on the line for a risky game against a strong team.

So, if Justin won’t be there vs the Steelers, who will? We may have a little hint regarding that. Jim Harbaugh talked about Taylor Heinicke and only had some good stuff to say about him. He claimed that he hadn’t seen anyone “get up to speed” as quickly as Heinicke.

Now, with Herbert out of the way for a while, Heinicke might be Harbaugh’s next pick for the upcoming match. But not so quick; Easton Stick is also in the same line. If you are a Taylor fan, however, you may have an upper hand because Stick’s record doesn’t give him any significant advantage over Heinicke. So, yes, Herbert will probably be sitting this one out and Harbaugh has most likely planned out his replacement, whom he refused to name ahead of the game.

Moving on from that, why not go through our exclusive Think Tank interview with Doug Sanders?