Chargers' Jim Harbaugh Won't Speculate on Justin Herbert Injury

Rain and high winds battered North Carolina early Monday, with meteorologists warning that the weather system could develop into a tropical storm. Those weren't the only dark clouds hanging over the Chargers' downtown hotel.

Justin Herbert limped out of the stadium after a 26-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. According to coach Jim Harbaugh, the X-rays came back negative, but it is not yet clear what will happen to the quarterback.

“He's been apprehended,” Harbaugh said. “I'm sure there will be more evaluations as the week progresses.”

The coach said in the pre-season that he doesn't like to talk about injuries in detail. On Monday, he kept his word and refused to say which leg was causing Herbert pain (it's his right leg) and whether it was his ankle or something else.

“He said he was picked up,” Harbaugh repeated. “We'll know more when the injury report comes out on Wednesday.”

Herbert completed 31 of 46 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns to help the Chargers to their first 2-0 start since 2012. And he didn't seem to suffer as a result.

“We'll know more in the next few days but I was able to finish the game and build on it,” he said on Sunday, despite limping noticeably as he walked to the team bus.

The Chargers resumed training at North Carolina Charlotte's training facility on Wednesday.

Because the Chargers were scheduled to play in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Harbaugh had approached the players over the summer with the idea of ​​staying in Charlotte on the East Coast after the game. That way, they could train for a full week and avoid having to fly across the country twice.

He was pleasantly surprised by the response.

“It wouldn't work if people were against it. And our guys weren't,” Harbaugh said. “They were like, 'Hey, let's do that. That would be fun.'”

However, the benefits go far beyond just full training and less travel.

“Getting the biological clock right. That’s the main reason to do it,” Harbaugh said. “Some studies, by people much smarter than me, have found that this is a good way to do it.”

Being together, away from friends and family, also provides an opportunity to bond, which can be important for a team that has undergone major changes.

“It's a great opportunity for us to be together, focus on our game and spend time together in the off-season, get to know each other,” Herbert said. “You spend a week with your guys, especially the way it is in camp, I think it's an opportunity for us to grow and get better.

“We're going to watch the film about this and keep pushing. I'm looking forward to it.”

Even the rain, which is expected to continue for most of the week, was seen as positive.

“I hope we get a rain practice,” Harbaugh said. “You know we're going to have a game like this on one of these Sundays. So yeah, if we can get a rain practice, that would be really good for us.”

It can be expensive to feed and house a traveling party of more than 100 people for a week, but Harbaugh said the Spanos family, the team owners who have to foot the bill, also supported the idea.

“We appreciate the Spanos family for doing what it takes to make that happen,” Harbaugh said. “We know they have our backs. They have our backs, front and back. You want to run through the proverbial wall for our property, because they really care about us.”