Harbaugh On Injuries & Win Vs Vikings | LA Chargers

Do you updates on? Uh yeah, Tarhei working through uh working through something. I don’t think he’ll be out there today practicing. Dur I think will be out there today. Uh yeah, I think so. And if there’s a report that MCO few weeks or anything like that, I don’t think he’s likely for this week. Um, any windows opening up this week? Josh Harris, Dean Leonard, Dean Leonard. Still nothing on Josh. No. Um, Amaran, he’s gonna obviously miss this week because he has missed the minimum of four. Do you think he’ll be a candidate to return after this week? What do you sort of see as far as his timeline? Marren, I mean, he’s I mean, to me, it looks like he’s uh getting better every day. Um, we know he won’t be there this week though per league rules. Are you Do you have any sense on No, rather not. Rather speculate. Um, just going back to the game, Trey was active Pipkins. Um, Bobby started over him and then Trey came in late in the game for for Joe. Was that a a coaching decision as far as starting Bobby over Trey at right tackle? Was there still something going on with Trey’s knee to keep him out? And if so, why was he in the game late in the game for Joe? Yeah, I mean, he was uh clear to play. there’s um you know what percent he’s at not not quite a hundred. So, um I mean when it just comes to to those decisions, you play the the best player. Um and the health, you know, factors in, you know, somebody at 90% or 95% compared to somebody that’s 100 or 98% plus, um you know, the play the best and healthiest player. That’s that’s uh and and Trey was in the the backup role. And so if he was dealing with something physically, why did he come in the game and be in there for Joe? He was clear to play and and physically able. I’m just saying he wasn’t, you know, as most guys I’m trying to think of somebody who was who’s at 100%. I mean, not all are at 100%. So, did you want did you want to get him like some game action to see how the knee held up or he was sort of just the the next guy to go in based on how you structure things? Yeah, he was he was the the backup tackle, swing tackle for that game. Now, this game could be different. Yes, that was the sort of the next question. Um, if Trey is healthy, is he the starting right tackle or is there like a real competition there between Bobby as far as who’s going to start? Well, the uh Bobby’s Let’s Let’s talk about that. Bobby’s played great. Um, he uh graded out 90% and um game ball. I I nothing but respect for for the way Bobby has played and uh same for Foster Serell who was uh who also same grade and uh you know really really did a great job and um yeah so we’ll you know we’ll do what we do you know you go through a week of practice and and uh when you get to the game I mean the the best healthiest you know five will be starting Just what can you say about just this year’s rookie class and just the way they’ve been able to impact, you know, nearing the halfway point of the season. It seems like a couple of them different parts of the season just stepped up stepped up big time. You can probably tell by my smile just how uh how great it uh has been. I mean, I I’ll probably miss some of the names, but I mean, Aronda Gatson, of course, is uh been uh been great. Um Trey Harris, uh R.J. Mickens, you know, really coming on coming on strong. And uh Kamounti Videll playing like a number one running back, not just on our team on in the NFL. He’s a he’s been playing like a number one running back in the in the entire league. Uh and then some more opportunities uh possibly to come this week. Uh so it’s exciting. If one man can do it, another man can. Uh tremendous example to set. And did you guys do any like self scouting over the mini by or what was sort of the finance coaches and all that? Yeah, we u got uh got on to the Titans and uh preparing for the preparing for this game so that we could have the game plan in today and and uh and roll. good that the players had mini break. Doesn’t happen often in uh during a season, but I think it was uh good for good for our players. How do you look at your team like big picture wise eight games in eight game and n kind of points? Yeah, just building and um and getting healthier. I think that’s a that’s a big component. Um, and then all the things that we’re working on, um, you know, football-wise as a team, um, the the the situations, the complimentary football, the reducing turnovers, reducing penalties, um, precision on offense, um, really like the way our defense played. I mean, thought big, uh, big improvement. No explosive plays. uh stopping the run, you know, all those things. Uh just chipping away and building at um as we go. Has Kenan impressed you at all so far this year with just how reliable he’s been? Yeah, [Laughter] he’s been he’s been incredible. Um just really happy for his success. um I think he’s the the uh the fastest to a thousand uh in the history of the National Football League. Love uh love those kind of awards and that and that he’s bringing that to our team. uh you know at that that elite high level. Uh I think all his catches went for first downs and um just has had a uh an incredible positive impact on our football team. What is it about him that you think makes him able to be effective? Boy, probably a lot a lot of I mean probably thousand little things. Uh but it’s that uh you know when it comes to training and uh you know how he he goes about his business it’s uh you know it’s the proof is in the pudding you know how he how he plays it’s you know this nothing but respect. I mean, same way u Khlo Mack, you know, is able to be playing like he’s still 21, 22 years old at uh in his in his early 30s. Uh you know, the something reserved for the great ones. Um nothing but respect. Just uh with Joe, obviously his his impact on the game was was evident on on film, but a lot of guys after the game sort of talked about his leadership. I know you mentioned in your speech after the game felt kind of player way, but just with Joe specifically, how would you describe like the impact that he has from a leadership standpoint, just his presence on the field, his presence on the sideline and what that did for you guys and Yeah. presence in the training environment, presence in the in the meeting room, you know that um but especially, you know, in the in the game. Um there was even my kids, you know, boy, dad Joe really made a made a big difference. I mean, it’s it’s just that obvious, you know, how uh how good of a player he is. So, uh, it was great to have him back and, you know, not at 100%. But, um, you know, I his not at 100% is, you know, the best, you know, uh, one of the best in the league. He did get rolled up on on, I believe, on the same right ankle. Did he come out of the game healthwise or? Yeah, he’ll be out there today. Uh, and talking to him, he no worse for wear. It was pretty heavily heavily uh wrapped and compressed and and guarded and taped, you know. It’s uh it’s a wonderful thing what compression can do. It’s like a warm hug, you know. It uh kept that ankle nice and uh protected. It’s pretty similar to the play. You had the you had the protection had the similar I mean it was uh same same setup uh that uh Justin had last year when he had when he had the ankle. So, uh, uh, tip of the cap to Marco and all the trainers. Uh, love a good contraption that way, you know, uh, something that can a cast similar to You love a good contraption. Yeah. cast contraption, a pad, uh you know, wellplaced uh contraption of protection. Yeah. I mean, it’s it’s good. A knee brace, you know, the uh well engineered. I’m tip of the cap to to Marco and the trainers and and uh and it’s good once you you know, you can wear it and it you know, you get you get familiar with it and you can tell that it’s better to have it have it on. What are you seeing from the Titans? Um, you know, we’re going to have to play good. Um, you I would, uh, it’s going to take us, you know, coming back, uh, regrouping, refitting, and, uh, you know, getting ready to play, um, at a at a good level. We gonna have, we’re gonna have to play good. that uh it’s one thing that’s been proven all not only this year but over the course of the history of the National Football League. You got to play good to to win these games. So that’s where our focus is. Our guys are back. They’re uh they uh they they seem really locked in and uh and ready to roll. And I’d be surprised if they weren’t, but uh that’s the way we’re going about our business, attacking it, getting ourselves ready for this game. Huge game because it’s the next game. Anything stand out to you about Cam Ward? Cam Ward. Yeah. Um the there’s a there’s a there’s a coolness. There’s a presence there. Um, you know, some of the the throws he makes are are uh are really good. Probably the thing that jumps out the most is uh just the timing he’s developed with his receivers, you know, in a very short time that uh there’s uh it’s very efficient, very uh pretty darn dynamic and um there’s a just his his sense of timing that’s that’s uh been impressive. the the level of precision, you know, for a rookie quarterback and a new group of receivers, some of them, you know, pretty in their first year, too. Um, they’re doing a really good job

LA Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh speaks to the media during Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season after the team’s Week 8 win vs the Minnesota Vikings. Harbaugh discusses injuries and gives updates on cornerback Tarheeb Still & safety Derwin James Jr., the impressive performances from tight end Oronde Gadsden II, safety RJ Mickens and more, quarterback Justin Herbert’s success so far this season, and the prep before flying out to Nashville to play Cameron Ward and the Tennessee Titans.

SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/chargers?sub_confirmation=1
TICKETS: http://chargers.com/tickets

FOLLOW US
Facebook: http://facebook.com/chargers
Instagram: http://instagram.com/chargers
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chargers
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@chargers

#LAChargers #Chargers

24 comments

  13. So did Herbert have his best career game against the Colts or was that game against the Vikings better because he threw for 3 touchdowns? Listen Justin Herbert isn't that good at least not yet anyway. When I see him throw for 400 or more yards playing from behind and puts up 4 or 5 touchdowns and wins for his team then I might become a believer, but then you have the protection and the receivers. But Herbert has been doing it wrong for quite awhile now. This last game against the Vikings it was a better game. But what i mean is the Chargers have to for the first couple of drives get their run game going early. Whoever the running back is for that game let him carry the football early. And those first couple of drives they might result in punts, but probably not 100% of the time either. The run game is not like the pass game. The pass game seems to usually pick up on it's own at some point in these games. There's times when quarterbacks get so hot you wonder if they can throw an incomplete pass? The run game the priming is not the same as the pass game. If you come out passing early on the first couple of drives you wonder if you're ever going to get to running the ball? It's like that. And I think as a quarterback when you do that you put more burden on yourself to win each and every time. I think this is one thing you have to be comfortable doing as a team. Because yeah a team could come out and put an early 14 or 21 points on your defense and all of a sudden you just got throttled. Just like that what happened in that Colts game, but here's the thing they got Jonathan Taylor involved early, they did it running the ball early and at the same time it primed their run game. Now I don't think these types of games happen a lot where you get throttled and you don't have a choice you have to open up the playbook and you have to pass. I'm not so sure if Kimani Vidal can keep doing what he's doing each and every week? In the game against the Dolphins he went for 124 yards on 18 carries, against the Colts he went 20 yards on 9 carries, and against the Vikings he went 117 yards on 23 carries. I think not having Omarion Hampton and losing Najee Harris for the season puts the Chargers run game in somewhat of a bind. Because each and every week who's going to be the starting running back? Like these guys are saying now who's going to tote the pill? Kimani Vidal i dont think he's a bell cow that can do what he's been doing week in and week out. Now maybe Kimani can do it again this next game because the Chargers will have 10 days of rest before they play the Titans. And if he can then it's something you dont have to be worried about this week. But the week after is there a guy you can pull off the bench and say are you good for 20 carries?

    The odd makers have the Chargers open as 10 point favorites on the road. But there's certain things that don't show up in the stats. These guys might be good enough to go to afc championship games and super bowls. But you wanna know what will keep them out? Mistakes. The mistakes is what will keep them out. And the mistakes don't always reflect in the stats, but they'll show up on the film. It's not like Justin Herbert played a relatively pefect game or what we would call perfect for a game of football. He made a couple of potentially bad mistakes that could alter the outcome of any football game. And that's what separates some of these guys who are good from the guys who are better. True for the whole team it'll be the mistakes that keep the Chargers out of those games, and quite possibly and probably from winning the division. And the perspective is changing when it comes to gambling and sports. It's now the world that we're in. I do think some guys are just bad and for a lack of a better term they suck. I'm not saying you gotta go schizophrenic like a Bill Belichick but there's some sh!t going on. I don't know how you could ever have any player on the team that bets on himself to lose – I digress.

    There's stories about Don Shula, Bill Belichick, the run game, and winning super bowls that I'm not able to get to today. But I was saying this before the season started just not on this YouTube channel. Pass more earlier in the season when it's warmer and it's still September and October or for the most part October, and run it more mid season and late season when it starts to cool down and/or get cold. But it's not just because of the weather, but the seasonal weather change is an indicator, it's because defenses wear down after so many games and a long season. And that includes the Chargers defense. Without a run game the defense is going to get trashed. It just seems like to me that philosophy is perfect, football was made to be that way. Don't know if you agree? But it's the execution every week. If you have poor execution you cant do nothing. You can see it when it's week 1 guys are coming out of training camp juiced up and fresh, they've had an off season too. Defenses tend to wear down as the season goes on that's a fact. They can talk about the 1985 Bears defense, but they never pair that up with Walter Payton being the guy that was their starting running back and he rushed for 1,500 yards that season. The pass game it's like sin, it's fun and it's pleasurable and it promises a lot, but it delivers a little. The problem with the Chargers was they were throwing it a lot earlier in the season but there was a disappearance of the run game. There was no run game in some of those games. And really it proved to be a f*king disaster. Herbert has taken on more hits and sacks than any qb this season. But how do you balance that where you can come out slinging it around the yard more often earlier in the season and not have this disappearance of your run game? Well there's next season to figure that out but i do think part of the answer lies in letting the running back carry the football for the first couple drives of these games instead of passing early and often. Because the question will always be if you dont get to the run game early will I be able to get to it later in the game? Because once these games get going there's momentum swings and it could be hard to get to your run game because of your defense, are you comfortable doing that? Is the defense going to hold on this next drive or whatever it is if we have to punt or do we pass? See what I'm saying? Early in the game is when you get to your run game not later because that ship might sail on you, and a lot of times it does. That has been my observation taken from many games the Chargers have played with Justin Herbert as their quarterback. There might be a couple of outliers out there but not as many as you think.

Leave a Reply