Brandon Staley on Justin Herbert’s spike vs. Packers: ‘There’s no one that cares more’

Justin Herbert and Brandon Staley were asked about Herbert’s fiery spike against the Packers on Sunday. During the fourth quarter, Herbert spiked the ball after a miscommunication between him and Will Clapp caused a delay of game penalty.

Herbert said he apologized to Will Clapp and the rest of the offensive linemen about the spike. He confirmed that the frustration stemmed from the delay of game penalty that was enforced on the Chargers.

Football is an emotional game. It got the best of me. I apologized to Will [Clapp]. I apologized to the O-Line for that outburst of frustration. I have to do a better job of getting the call in earlier, go through our reads. Whether I am killing the play or whether I’m keeping it up, we just have to have a faster pace of play out there.

While Herbert was humble in saying that he has to be better at displaying emotion, Staley seemed to like the display of fire from him:

That’s a great thing. It’s just a competitor out there competing. He and Will [Clapp] are tight. There’s a lot that goes on out there in the game. There’s no one that cares more than Justin. love seeing that.

Staley also said he’s learned to trust Herbert and how he’s feeling in his time as the Chargers’ coach.

I just trust Justin’s judgment. I think that’s part of being a quarterback, you have to use your judgment. It’s good to go with what you’re feeling sometimes. When you’re in the heat of competition, there are going to be some times when it gets edgy. When you’re the quarterback, there’s no one that is more responsible for more than you. Him and Will [Clapp] are great teammates, Will and him have an awesome connection. They’re not the only center-quarterback tandem in the history of the league to have something like that happen. All you have to do is go on YouTube to find it, any of the great players that have ever played that position. We’re past that and we’re on to the next thing.

The Athletic’s Daniel Popper mentioned Peyton Manning getting fiery with his centers as an example of the concept that Staley described. It seems like the team and media don’t mind Herbert unleashing some of the competitive fire occasionally.

Herbert and the Chargers will look to snap their losing streak against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football this week.