LA Chargers Will Rest Justin Herbert, Other Starters in Week 18 vs. Denver Broncos
With quarterback Justin Herbert's hand injured, and injuries across their offensive line and defense, the Chargers are resting starters in Week 18. That is a bonus for the Broncos.
When the LA Chargers lost to the Houston Texans on Saturday, it cemented the Denver Broncos first AFC West win in a decade and also slotted LA into one of the last three playoff spots in the AFC.
While Denver needs to just beat the Chargers on Sunday, Jan. 4 to take the No. 1 seed, LA needs a win and help to earn the No. 5 or 6 seed. A loss by the Chargers puts them in 7th.
With relatively little to play for, the Chargers will probably rest their starters.
Update: Jim Harbaugh said Justin Herbert will not play this week.
Justin Herbert will not start for the Chargers in Week 18, Jim Harbaugh says. The Chargers will rest their QB.
— Dianna Russini (@diannarussini.bsky.social) 2025-12-29T21:33:59.629Z
He also said the starters with the "most bruises" will also not play.
Jim Harbaugh said QB Justin Herbert won’t play Sunday against the Broncos.
— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) December 29, 2025
Said other starters with “the most bruises” and need “the most healing” won’t play.
Chargers seem likely to rest starters vs. Broncos
As of 2:30 p.m. MT on Monday, Jim Harbaugh said Justin Herbert will not play this week against the Broncos. He hasn't said which other starters will play yet or not.
That's a huge win for the Broncos, who need a victory to take home the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Quarterback Justin Herbert injured his non-throwing left hand, fracturing a bone in it, on Nov. 30. He gutted it out and stayed in the game, got surgery that week, and hasn't missed playing time.
But Herbert's been bruised and battered, plus he's played sloppy football, since the injury. Last week, the Houston Texans sacked him five times, and he's been sacked 19 times since the injury five weeks ago. While he's getting assaulted by opposing defenses, Herbert's thrown four interceptions and fumbled five times since the injury, losing one.
He can barely take snaps from under center due to the special glove protecting his left hand. That's limiting the offense, and their entire operation has become clunky and disjoined lately. And while Herbert finished strong against the Raiders—an easy task considering they're terrible—his only other strong performance during this run was against the sad Dallas defense two in Week 16.
Rich Kurtzman
Chargers and Texans was sloppy on Saturday
On Saturday against the Texans, Houston was able to jump out to the 14-0 lead thanks to brilliant deep ball passing by C.J. Stroud exploiting the Chargers defense. That, and Herbert getting sacked, forcing a 3-and-out before the second touchdown.
After that hot start, both teams went ice cold. The Chargers punted four straight times before a Stroud interception gave LA the ball in Houston territory. But Herbert and Co. couldn't move the ball and settled for a field goal.
Then Herbert and Stroud exchanged interceptions later in the second quarter and Cameron Dicker, who's never missed from inside 40 yards, did miss just before halftime.
Rich Kurtzman
Down 17-3 late in the third quarter, Herbert was finally able to manufacture a scoring drive. He ran for 28 yards on the drive's biggest play, and connected with tight end Oronde Gadsden for the touchdown.
LA couldn't keep the momentum going, and Houston was able to put another field goal on the board. Down 20-10 in the fourth, the Chargers mounted another touchdown drive, highlighted by deep balls to Ladd McConkey and Gadsden, and Omarion Hampton ran the ball in with 3:37 to play.
That's when Dicker, who's the most accurate kicker in NFL history, missed the extra point.
Houston salted away the win, 20-16.
The difference in the game was those four missed points on Dicker's kicks.
Herbert under duress
Not only was Justin Herbert sacked five times by Houston, he fumbled twice, recovering them both.
It was a combination of the Texans' great pass rush and the fact that both starting tackles have been placed on Injured Reserve. On top of that, backup left tackle Jarmarlee Salyer was out on Saturday, meaning the Chargers were forced to play their third-string tackle at arguably the most-important position on the line.
All told, Herbert's 54 sacks this season are second-most to only Geno Smith and Cam Ward, who've each been sacked 55 times.
The Chargers quarterback may be a warrior, but his body is breaking down a bit after being hit so relentlessly this season.
If LA wants to win in the Wild Card Round, they'll need a healthy Herbert.
That's why it makes sense for the Chargers to rest him in Week 18 against the Broncos, who lead the league in sacks with 64.
Other injuries abound
It's not just Herbert who's injured, as explained earlier, the offensive line is a mess for the Chargers right now.
But the it doesn't stop there for LA.
Last week, backup running back Kimani Vidal (neck) was out and third-string back Hassan Haskins sustained a concussion during the game, Saturday. On defense, backup cornerback Benjamin St-Juste with a shoulder injury while depth linebacker Kyle Kennard and safety RJ Mickens were out, too.
The LA Chargers are likely to rest their starters in Week 18 against the Denver Broncos because they need to get healthy if they want to make a playoff push.
Chargers playoff scenarios
If LA wins in Week 18, they need the Texans to lose to the Colts to earn the No. 5 seed. A win would also guarantee them the No. 6 spot.
Or, a Chargers loss paired with a Bills loss and a Texans win would put LA in No. 6. The final scenario is all three teams—the Chargers, Bills, and Texans—all have the same result (win or loss) and LA will be No. 6.
Will the Denver Broncos rest their starters in Week 18?
The Broncos will likely wait until the Chargers make their move to decide if Denver will rest their starters or not in Week 18.
Head football coaches love to play games with one another. Whether that means hiding which quarterback will start in a given week, or if they will rest their starters in a regular season game.
However, Jim Harbaugh—who is currently 3-0 vs. Sean Payton and the Broncos—did just announce he's resting Justin Herbert, at least. He still may wait and make a bunch of other starters a game-time decision. Or, he may even still play them.
When Harbaugh does announce he's resting more of the Chargers starters by name, expect Payton to rest a handful of the Broncos starters, too. Or, at the very least, sit them in the second half if Denver has a comfortable lead.
While Week 18 is relatively fruitless for the Chargers, a Denver win will earn them the No. 1 seed. That will mean a bye week to rest on the Weekend of Jan. 10-11, and guarantee home games in the playoffs.
Payton explained after the Packers win that Denver's No. 1 goal was to win the division. The No. 2 goal is highest seed possible. No. 3 is to win the Super Bowl.
What Harbaugh has to decide is if moving up from their current No. 6 spot to No. 5 is worth putting his most valuable player, Justin Herbert, at risk against Denver's attacking defense.
As Bolt Beat explains, former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley was in this exact same position three years ago. He decided to play the starters in the first half and wide receiver Mike Williams injured his back. Williams missed the Wild Card game the next week, and the Chargers lost to the Jaguars.
Risking injury to his starters isn't worth it, which is why it's likely the Chargers rest their starters against the Broncos in Week 18. Which would almost certainly give Denver the victory, the No. 1 seed, and be a best-case scenario for the Broncos.
Broncos (13-3) vs. Chargers (11-5) kicks off at 2:25 p.m. MT at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 4.
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