The Chargers’ next opponent is the Patriots, who they will meet on Sunday afternoon.
While New England might see this as a gimme, coach Bill Belichick isn’t taking Los Angeles lightly because he knows that quarterback Justin Herbert is capable of elevating them to a victory with his play alone.
On Tuesday, Belichick went into detail, highlighting what the rookie signal-caller is doing that has him taking the league by storm.
“He’s impressive – very talented player, tall, sees things well, has a good arm, can certainly make all the throws,” Belichick said of Herbert. “He’s athletic, can escape the pocket, smart. They do a number of things at the line of scrimmage – you’ve seen him check plays, audible against pressure, change plays against check-with-me type situations.
“So, it looks like he’s going be a good quarterback for a long time, a lot to work with and I know he’s a smart, hard-working kid that likes football and I’m sure he will continue to get better, as he has this year throughout the course of the season. He’s improved from the early games that I’ve watched, and like I said, has a lot of good skill players to work with – good tight end, good backs, good receivers. So, yeah, he’s a good player.”
Belichick admits that the team did their homework on Herbert when he was in college.
“We evaluated him,” Belichick said. “I think he’s got, like I said, all the tools. I think you saw that at Oregon. Even in the bowl game, he did about all he could do and did it well.”
This is the most praise that Herbert has gotten from any coach up to this point. But while Belichick highlighted all of his strengths, his notorious for exploiting rookie quarterback’s weaknesses.
He’s got a 19-5 record against rookie quarterbacks.