Justin Herbert Camp Update — August 23: Three Snaps Behind a Shuffled Line
2026 NFL Season · Sunday, Aug 23
Herbert's long-awaited preseason debut lasted one three-and-out — a run for a loss, a nine-yard completion, an incompletion — and the week around it rearranged the line in front of him: Tyler Biadasz out indefinitely, rookie Jake Slaughter named the starting center.
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Justin Herbert's preseason debut lasted three snaps. Thursday against San Francisco, the opening series went run for a loss of a yard, nine-yard completion to tight end Charlie Kolar, and a third-and-two incompletion intended for Ladd McConkey — punt, night over, Trey Lance in for the second possession, per Myles Simmons at Pro Football Talk. The game collapsed into a 41-to-17 loss played by reserves, and Jim Harbaugh said the part that applies to his quarterback evaluation, per Eric Smith at the team's website: "It's hard to evaluate the quarterbacks with those kind of errors taking place," referring to the illegal formation and illegal shift penalties that kept erasing plays.
The larger Herbert development happened around him, not to him. Tyler Biadasz, his starting center, tore up his left knee in Tuesday's joint practice — reported as a torn anterior cruciate ligament, out indefinitely, per Thomas Martinez at Sports Illustrated's Chargers site — and by Saturday Harbaugh had named second-round rookie Jake Slaughter the starter, per Smith: "Jake Slaughter is now our starting center, so that's a big change." Left guard remains the position Harbaugh declines to call settled, with Kayode Awosika running first-team, per Smith. The one recovery: left tackle Rashawn Slater returned to practice Saturday on a limited dosage after his knee flare-up, per Smith.
Back in June we previewed Herbert's year as elite accuracy with one leak — the interceptions — and a Mike McDaniel rebuild whose promise ran through better protection. Three clean if unremarkable snaps say nothing about the leak; a rookie center and an unsettled left guard say something real about the protection half, three weeks before Arizona. What to watch: whether Herbert plays more than a series in Thursday's home finale against the Rams behind the Slaughter-centered line, and what the cutdown to 53 next Sunday leaves him for interior depth. We'll check after cut day.
_Data via nflverse._
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