Hall of Famer Michael Irvin took a personal shot at Justin Herbert. Here's what he said and why the Chargers QB is under fire after a rough start.
Losing to the Raiders is bad enough. Losing to the Raiders and then getting roasted by Michael Irvin is a whole different kind of Monday.
The Hall of Fame receiver took to Instagram after the Los Angeles Chargers' loss on Sunday with a pointed message for Justin Herbert, and he didn't stick to football.
Irvin brought Herbert's girlfriend, pop singer Madison Beer, into it with a joke built on one word. "You made the wrong drive," he said. His point was that Herbert looks more comfortable chauffeuring Beer to the airport than leading his offense into the end zone.
It's a cheap shot, but it lands because Herbert is an easy target right now. His seventh season has started badly, and the old question has come back louder than ever: Is he ever going to become the superstar everyone predicted when he entered the league?
To Herbert's credit, his love life isn't the reason the Chargers are struggling. Irvin went for the laugh. Other analysts went for the jugular with actual football arguments.
Jeff Saturday, the former Colts center turned ESPN analyst, said on First Take that the whole point of a franchise quarterback is to make everyone around him better. In his view, Herbert simply hasn't done that this year.
Bill Simmons pushed it further. The Ringer founder argued that people have been too quick to blame the organization and too slow to blame the quarterback. For Simmons, the answer is that Herbert has played poorly, and it's time people said so plainly.
The Chargers' own head coach sees it differently. Jim Harbaugh has stood firmly behind his quarterback, arguing that the people around Herbert are letting him down. He pointed to two interceptions he doesn't blame on Herbert at all.
On one, tight end David Njoku couldn't hang onto the ball. On the other hand, receiver Derius Davis ran the wrong route. Harbaugh insisted Herbert did exactly what he was supposed to do on both plays.
He also praised the way his quarterback bounces back from mistakes, calling it a sign of who Herbert is as a person.
So which is it? Is Herbert a star being dragged down by a shaky supporting cast, or a quarterback who hasn't lived up to the hype and is running out of excuses?
The honest answer is probably somewhere in between. Great quarterbacks elevate imperfect rosters, and Herbert hasn't done that consistently. But no quarterback looks good when his receivers drop balls and run the wrong routes.
Irvin's video won't change anything on the field. What it does is show how much patience with Herbert has worn thin outside Los Angeles. Talent and potential only buy so much goodwill before people start wanting results.
He'll get his next shot at results Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, one of the toughest tests on the schedule.
A big game would quiet the noise, at least for a week. Another rough outing, and Irvin won't be the last one cracking jokes.
