Heinicke completed his only two passes for 24 yards in Sunday's 20-10 loss to the Steelers after entering the game midway through the third quarter in place of the injured Justin Herbert (ankle).
Though he attempted just two passes over a quarter and a half of action, Heinicke took sacks on three of his other dropbacks. Both of the Chargers' starting tackles, Rashawn Slater (pectoral) and Joe Alt (back), suffered injuries Sunday, which didn't help Heinicke's chances of leading the Chargers to a win, even though Herbert departed with the game tied at 10. Given that Herbert was listed as questionable heading into Sunday before aggravating his right high-ankle sprain, the Chargers may be inclined to take a more cautious approach with their franchise signal-caller heading into the Week 4 matchup with the Chiefs. If that's the case, Heinicke could be the preferred choice to step in as a starter rather than Easton Stick, who struggled during the preseason and ultimately wasn't called upon off the bench to replace Herbert in Sunday's contest, despite being active for the contest.