Herbert Runs More Than Ever: The Key to the Chargers’ Success?

Justin Herbert: The Surprising Runner for the Chargers

In the midst of preparations for the Los Angeles Chargers’ preseason game against the New Orleans Saints, player Quentin Johnston was bewildered. He watched as quarterback Justin Herbert repeatedly ran 25-yard sprints over and over, followed by short breaks. Johnston realized that Herbert was taking the team’s conditioning test, a demanding running assessment that players must pass at the start of training camp to demonstrate their physical condition. This test includes six repetitions of 150 yards, divided into 25-yard sprints with a 40-second rest after each set. The amount of sets, repetitions, and rest periods varies depending on the position, but it’s a test that most players dread when returning for the start of the football season. The fact that Herbert was doing the conditioning test voluntarily baffled him.

“My first reaction was like ‘He’s lost it’,” Johnston said with a smile. “But if he likes it, I love it. Just by looking at him, I’m not surprised he’s been running like he has”.

Quentin Johnston

Justin Herbert is averaging the most rushing yards per game in his career this season.Herbert has always been a mobile player, in fact, he had the third-fastest time in the 40-yard dash among quarterbacks at the 2020 NFL Combine, with 4.68 seconds. Throughout his career, he has made defenses that don’t take into account his ability to run pay the price. In his sixth season, Herbert has run more than ever, in part because he has no other option. He averages 26.6 rushing yards per game this season, 8.6 yards more than his second-best season. The need to run and escape pressure has arisen due to an offensive line plagued by injuries, which has been among the worst in the league, forcing him to leave the pocket and run as the coaches see fit.

“If I can get a first down with my legs, I’m more than happy to do it. That’s when we’re at our best, when we can do everything,” Herbert said. “Run game, pass game, play action, and quarterback runs to get first downs.”

Justin Herbert

The Chargers will look to continue relying on Herbert’s mobility as they face the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday.

“We’ve emphasized using his legs, making more plays with his legs to help the team,” said quarterbacks coach Shane Day. “But I think it’s more natural and just being aware of, ‘Hey, if the protection breaks down, we can still make a play'”.

Shane Day

Day mentioned that Herbert communicated to the coaches his desire to improve his mobility and speed before this season, something that became evident in training camp. Coach Jim Harbaugh noted that Herbert’s previous top speed in a practice was 20.7 mph, but he reached 21.6 mph this year. That speed was evident in the Chargers’ Week 1 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil.

In third-and-14 with 2:14 remaining on the clock, the Chargers were clinging to a 27-21 lead and were on the verge of an eighth straight loss to the Chiefs. Herbert dropped back to pass, but then ran for 19 yards and calmly slid for a first down as his teammates on the sideline went into a frenzy. Herbert’s speed on that run was 19.82 mph, his top speed on a run this season.

“That was great,” Johnston said with a smile.

Quentin Johnston

Among quarterbacks with at least five runs, Herbert is first in the league in yards per carry with 11.9. No other qualified quarterback has more than 10 yards per carry, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. This past season, Herbert finished third in the league with 10.8 yards per carry. While running has always been part of his game, Herbert has often been forced to do so in 2025 due to the heavy pressure he has received. The Chargers’ offensive line has been decimated by injuries. Left tackle Rashawn Slater suffered a torn patellar tendon that ended his season during training camp. Tackle Joe Alt, who moved from right to left after Slater’s injury, missed three games after leaving the first quarter of the game against the Giants in Week 4 with a high right ankle sprain. Right tackle Trey Pipkins III, who replaced Alt on the right, missed two games with a left knee injury. Guard Jamaree Salyer, who was originally supposed to be the team’s backup tackle, also missed a game with a right knee injury. These injuries have led the Chargers to have one of the worst offensive lines in the league through Week 7. The defenses have pressured Herbert 135 times this season, with sixty of those pressures coming in less than 2.5 seconds of his dropback, both the most in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats. Against the Dolphins in Week 6, the Chargers started with Austin Deculus at left tackle, who entered the game ranked last in the NFL in pass block rate during the two weeks he played, and Bobby Hart at right tackle, who hadn’t played an NFL regular season snap since 2022. The following week, with the same offensive line, Herbert faced a career-high pressure rate of 57.4% against the Colts, and was sacked three times. Harbaugh has said that the pressure and hits Herbert has been taking are “very concerning”, but the problem persists. Herbert’s running has kept them afloat and, according to his offensive linemen, has helped them during this injury-plagued period.

“From a pressure standpoint, when you have to respect the quarterback’s mobility, it slows them down,” said center Bradley Bozeman. “It makes them add an extra spy type. Our receivers have better opportunities to get open, so it’s another threat he brings to the passing game that he’s had throughout his career, but especially this year.”

Bradley Bozeman

Herbert’s longest runs have often come at particularly opportune moments on third down.

“We’ve emphasized using his legs, making more plays with his legs to help the team,” said quarterbacks coach Shane Day about Justin Herbert.In third-and-19 against the Giants in Week 4, Herbert ran 24 yards for a first down. The following week, against the Commanders, with pressure from the ends enveloping him, Herbert ran through the middle of the field 41 yards and got a first down. “It changes everything,” said offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Roman remembered how difficult it was to stop the San Francisco 49ers when he was a defensive and offensive assistant for the Carolina Panthers from 1995 to 2001, because Steve Young could run for a first down even if they had perfect coverage. “Just the sinking feeling that hit me… I always remembered what a great equalizer can be,” Roman said. The only problem some members of the coaching staff have with Herbert’s runs is usually how they end. Instead of sliding before contact, Herbert often looks to lower his shoulder and run over a defender with his 6-foot-6-inch, 236-pound frame, taking hits that make his teammates and coaches wince. But Herbert’s runs, and the hits, “raise the energy on the bench,” Day said.

“I mean, he’s naturally a physical football player, so when a guy comes, he’s not going to go out of bounds,” Day said with a smile. “I don’t like it at all. He never listens to me.”

Shane Day

Day was Herbert’s quarterbacks coach during the 2021 and 2022 seasons before leaving to be the Houston Texans’ offensive assistant in 2023, but then returned to Los Angeles with Harbaugh this past season. He said that Herbert’s discernment between when to run or pass is what sets him apart from other players he has coached. Day said that he and the offensive coaches put a plan in Herbert’s brain each week: what decisions to make if he sees a specific coverage, a defensive line change, or the tendencies of a defensive player. Herbert’s response to the chaos of game day and his decisions, such as his touchdown that tied the score to wide receiver Keenan Allen against the Denver Broncos or that run to seal the game against Kansas City, is where Herbert has evolved the most, Day said.

“He just reacts and is always right,” Day said. “Whatever you take away, it goes with the other guy… It’s a very unique ability to just play football, go through your progressions and, obviously, just play the play. Whatever happens, he can find something.”

Shane Day