Justin Herbert doesn’t need reminders of how bad the 2026 season is going for him. Still winless, the once-productive Los Angeles Chargers QB is yet to catch a break. And during such a time, Rams safety Quentin Lake rubbed salt in Herbert’s wounds.

“He was throwing deli meat out there,” Lake said on the Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown’s podcast. “He’s seeing ghosts. I don’t know what’s going on, but we knew we were gonna get a couple. At least one.”

Looking back, Lake has realized they were disrespectful. He has messaged Herbert personally to apologize for his remarks.

“I don’t know if he read it,” The Rams safety Quentin Lake said, via The Los Angeles Times. “He probably says, ‘I don’t care about it anymore. I’m not trying to see this. It doesn’t matter. You said what you said.’ But at the same time I … felt like it was right for me to at least say, ‘Hey, man, I didn’t mean it in any disrespectful way.’”

“You know, I was with my boys,” Lake added. “I was in a comfortable environment. I was trying to say stuff funny. But looking back on it, they have a big platform. And when you say stuff like that, people are going to take it in ways that you may not mean it. … In no way, shape, or form was it supposed to be disrespectful.”

The Rams hosted the Chargers for a Week 8 clash at SoFi Stadium, and as many expected, the game turned out to be yet another bummer for the Herbert-led Chargers. In the game, Lake intercepted one of Herbert’s passes. The QB finished the game going 24 of 32 for 257 yards and zero scores. The Chargers could only post three field goals.

Herbert, however, offered a measured response when asked about Lake’s initial comments.

“I haven’t looked into it, haven’t heard anything about it, so I can’t really make a comment about it,” Herbert told reporters. “We’re really just focused on what’s going on in the building, playing football, and doing what we can and doing our best to, you know, go put our best effort out on Sunday. And that’s all that really matters. Anything outside of that is out of our control.”

Truth be told, Herbert is playing like a shell of the quarterback he used to be. He has thrown interceptions in every game he has played thus far, and his passing accuracy is only at 61.8%. The offense somehow ended up looking worse in the Rams game, even though it came after a bye, and offensive weapons Ladd McConkey and Tre’ Harris had returned from injury.

According to The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia, the Chargers’ EPA in this game(expected points added) was the worst it has been so far.

The Chargers are 0-7 in the league, the worst start to the season since 2000, when they started the season with a 0-11 record, ending with a 1-15 record. Herbert and his team have plenty of things to work on.

Mike McDaniel responds to Quentin Lake comments

Even offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, who is under immense scrutiny amid the Chargers’ struggles, disagreed with Lake’s opinion.

“People are saying whatever they want with whatever facts they have when we’re not living up to expectations,” McDaniel said. “Keep it moving.”

Unfortunately, McDaniel doesn’t really have a lot to add weight to his words.

Amid the recent drama, the Chargers rank 29th in passing yards (1,240), and are tied for the second-most sacks in the league (23). Herbert ranks dead last in the league among 35 qualified quarterbacks with an overall PFF grade of 43.9. He is also leading the league in interceptions (10), and the Chargers are also leading the league in total turnovers allowed (17).

McDaniel, for a change, will call plays from the booth from now on, instead of the sideline.

The Chargers’ hopes of making it to the playoffs are gone. However, the team will continue battling it out, returning to play the Houston Texans (2-5) next.