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Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) address the team as coach Jim Harbaugh (right) watches. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
From his first day on the job, Jim Harbaugh was enamored with Justin Herbert’s leadership abilities. The fifth-year quarterback “leads from the front,” Harbaugh praised.
That is, unless Herbert is emerging from a broken elevator.
When about a dozen members of the Chargers’ traveling party were stuck in an elevator in Dallas last month during the preseason, Herbert was the last to scale the ladder to safety, letting everyone else crawl through a ceiling panel before him after they were trapped for two hours.
The gesture only solidified Harbaugh’s belief in the star quarterback who the Chargers hope to follow to success.
“Any and every way, he is probably the best leader I’ve ever been around,” Harbaugh said Wednesday.
Read more: Hernández: Jim Harbaugh might sound quirky, but Chargers get the message as opener approaches
Hoping to rebound after the Charger’s disappointing 5-12 season, Herbert called his eventful preseason that included a foot injury that kept him out for two weeks and the comical-only-in-retrospect elevator incident, “a fun test.”
“Definitely learned a lot [going] through some things you don’t want to have to experience during the preseason,” Herbert said with a smile.
Herbert is healthy after the team announced the 26-year-old was diagnosed with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot on July 31. He said Wednesday during his first news conference since the first week of training camp that the injury developed gradually over time, but was not serious enough to have kept him out of games had it been during the season.
Although he could have “pushed through” to play games, Herbert instead worked with the training staff to manage the soreness with a protective boot with the hope it wouldn’t flare up again.
“When he came back, it’s like he didn’t miss a beat,” receiver Derius Davis said….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jim-harbaugh-awe-chargers-justin-015345056.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-09-05 01:53:45
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