Tyrod Taylor missed his start against Kansas City due to a punctured lung.
The Los Angeles Chargers were planning to roll out Tyrod Taylor as the starting quarterback against the Kansas City Chiefs, but a mysterious chest injury minutes before kickoff led to Justin Herbert being named the starter in his stead. We finally have some clarity as to what happened last Sunday, and it is unexpected and unusual, to say the least.
Taylor was going to play against the Chiefs with a flak jacket due to his cracked ribs, but he suffered a punctured lung after the team doctor tried to administer a pain-killing injection in his ribs right before kickoff. Schefter claims that the NFLPA is already investigating the matter.
The Chargers’ team doctor accidentally punctured his own quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s lung just before kickoff Sunday while trying to administer a pain-killing injection to the quarterback’s cracked ribs, league and team sources told ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2020
Justin Herbert played great in relief of Tyrod Taylor
In relief of Taylor, Herbert was nothing short of excellent in his first NFL game, throwing for 311 yards and scoring two touchdowns, one of which was a rushing touchdown. Despite his terrific performance, Herbert and the Chargers came up short in overtime.
Despite the rookie’s performance, Anthony Lynn apparently wants to start a veteran that can’t breathe right now and performed notably worse than Herbert when he could, as Lynn confirmed that Taylor, who struggled in a win against the Cincinnati Bengals, will remain the starting quarterback.
#Chargers coach Anthony Lynn on Tyrod Taylor: “If he’s 100 percent ready to go, he’s our starter.”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 21, 2020
Through no fault of Taylor, he now risks being Wally Pipp’d by Herbert after the rookie’s standout debut if he continues to underperform. The fact that a guy who has worked so hard and moved to so many different teams in pursuit of a starting gig might start to lose his job as a result of this is heartbreaking.
If you know a recent medical school graduate, there’s a strong chance that the Chargers might be hiring soon.