Chargers' Justin Herbert Under Fire for Practice Misses During 'Uncharacteristic' Offseason
Welcome to the circus, Justin Herbert.
Herbert has always been a star quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers. But he's never been a star.
A media-ducking, football-focused quarterback for the first stage of his career, Herbert has suddenly joined the likes of Joe Burrow and other star passers as a media presence worth tracking.
Around the world, even. Herbert has been absent from Chargers workouts recently around the same time his music video debut with girlfriend Madison Beer released.
Only Chargers fans will truly understand just how big of a departure that is from Herbert's normal offseason proceedings.
Now, Herbert's getting tracked around the globe as Beer tours and he's coming under fire for missing a key stretch of time with the team.
Justin Herbert misses Chargers practice analysis
First, a big dose of context: Herbert has missed a few voluntary workouts. Not a big deal. If he starts missing other stuff, it's worth blowing the dust off the panic button.
Alas, it's hard to blame fans who raise an eyebrow, either. Herbert has never really missed voluntary stuff. And this is a critical year for the Chargers. It's Year 3 of Jim Harbaugh. Things should be hitting on an upswing. More importantly, there's a brand new offense getting installed around mastermind Mike McDaniel.
That's why fans are concerned and national pundits like Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio are taking Herbert to task right now.
"Most franchise quarterbacks are there," Florio said. "Most franchise quarterbacks are dialed in. Especially in a key season where you know you're trying to push to the next level. Where you know the offense is gonna be different."
Even The Athletic's Daniel Popper described the misses as "uncharacteristic."
Most in the NFL realm have been very careful to clarify that we don't know why Herbert has missed this chunk of time.
Fans…not so much as Beer-Herbert watch continues:
Madison Beer & Justin Herbert spotted at Harry Styles' Together, Together tour in Amsterdam. pic.twitter.com/5IfAK9VrC6
- Madison Beer News (@madisonchart) May 21, 2026
Lmao it is him https://t.co/c6kQuJhH4ypic.twitter.com/qzLMLJQltD
- OLIVER (@Flat6Banger) May 21, 2026
Again, welcome to stardom, Herbert.
This isn't a big deal for the Chargers or Herbert. It's a key offseason with McDaniel. But one could also argue that he's now learning his fifth NFL offense already. He's shown the ability to pick up new things on the fly. A few missed voluntaries in May won't make that big of an impact.
Even so, this is new for the Chargers fanbase and the star quarterback.
Spoiler alert? It won't stop.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/chargers/onsi as Chargers' Justin Herbert Under Fire for Practice Misses During 'Uncharacteristic' Offseason.
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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 2:00 PM.