Justin Herbert injury update: Chargers fans need to hold their breath [UPDATED]

A Justin Herbert injury would change everything for the Chargers and make Thursday’s loss sting even more.

The Los Angeles Chargers suffered a close loss on Thursday Night to the Kansas City Chiefs, but the big stinger could be yet to come.

UPDATE: THIS ARTICLE WAS MOST RECENTLY UPDATED at 4:10 P.M. CT

Justin Herbert found himself on the ground plenty of times in the second half of the AFC West showdown on Thursday. He took eight quarterback hits after taking just three in Week 1 against the Raiders. One hit put him on the ground for several minutes as he got medical attention.

It appeared to be a possible classic case of injured ribs, but here’s what the team is saying…

Justin Herbert  injury update: X-Rays are negative, just part of the story

On Friday afternoon, head coach Brandon Staley revealed Herbert suffered a fracture to his rib cartilage and is day-to-day.

After the game, Herbert got X-Rays and Staley said that Herbert was “OK.” Not exactly a confidence-inspiring statement, but we all saw the pain that Herbert was in as he grimaced his way through the final plays of the game in a valiant effort to keep his team in it.

Backup QB Chase Daniel started warming up in case Herbert couldn’t go, but Herbert did end up toughing it out through the pain, though it limited him and kept him from running for a possible first-down at one point to avoid further injury.

According to NFL.com, Staley deflected comments on Herbert’s injury to be complimentary of Herbert’s performance rather than revealing anything about the injury just yet. Of course, he may not know the full results yet, either. Mike Garafalo indicated later that the X-Rays were negative Friday afternoon. 

Here’s what Staley had to say:

"“You’re not going to see a quarterback at any level of football play tougher and do more for their team and will their team to give them a chance more than him,” Staley said. “There’s nobody that can do what he can do, nobody. He showed a lot of guts, he showed us what he shows every day, that we’re never out of the fight, and he brought us back and gave us a chance.”"

Ian Rapoport added some context on Friday morning, saying Herbert was getting more tests done on the rib area today:

He also mentioned that even if the X-Rays are negative, Herbert could still find himself in question for upcoming games because of lingering soreness, internal issues, and cartilage concerns.

We’ll keep you updated here on further updates, because this could be incredibly meaningful for the Chargers season.