As the Chargers sit at 0-7 ahead of a Week 9 home game against the Texans, some fans are blaming Justin Herbert’s engagement to Madison Beer for his struggles. (Getty Images)
The Week 8 line is a decent snapshot. Herbert went 24 of 32 for 257 yards in a 24-9 loss to the Rams, with no touchdowns, two interceptions and a lost fumble to his name. Through seven games he has a 5:10 touchdown to interception ratio and a 61.8 percent completion rate, a career low by a wide margin. He leads the league with 10 turnovers and has gone eight straight starts, playoffs included, without multiple total touchdowns.
Her album Locket arrived in January, a tour followed, and in late September she was announced as a Fortnite Icon Series collaboration. Herbert, meanwhile, introduced her to the world as his fiancée. No one with the team has been reported pointing that way either.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the team would not consider it. It is easy to see why it caught on. Madison Beer’s year has been loud. Put a busy celebrity calendar next to a winless team and some people will connect the dots. Athletes’ partners have taken this kind of heat for decades, usually with nothing behind it but a bad month. After the Rams loss, a reporter asked Jim Harbaugh whether he had considered benching Herbert. The coach answered with one word: “No. He added that most players in the locker room had never been in this spot before. The outside noise keeps growing. Hall of Famer Cris Carter wants the Chargers to trade Herbert while his value is still high.