Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers helped get new head coach Jim Harbaugh into the win column right out of the chute with a Week 1 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium last Sunday. While Harbaugh got his team prepared to come out of the tunnel en route to a victory on opening weekend, his quarterback was taken aback by the head coach's pregame ritual with his signal-caller.
After the anthem, Harbaugh can be seen hitting Herbert on his shoulder pads. Following an initial tap, Herbert leaned in for a pregame hug, but Harbaugh continued to pound on his pads. This is something that the coach has done throughout his career, including with Alex Smith when they were with the San Francisco 49ers and more recently with J.J. McCarthy at Michigan.
"I just wasn't ready for it," Herbert admitted on Wednesday. "I thought it was a moment to like, "Hey, let's go get this.' Dap up. But he hit me a couple times, and I thought that was it. ... And then he kept going back for more. I'll be much better the next time."
Herbert went on to say that Harbaugh can also put a little more force into those jabs next time around, too.
"He took it light on me. He could have hit me harder," the quarterback said. "I'll ask him next time, like, 'Hey, you got to make sure I feel some of those punches.'"
Herbert completed 17 of his 26 passes in the opening win for 144 yards and a touchdown. While modest numbers through the air, Los Angeles' ground attack is what truly won the day for them as back J.K. Dobbins puled up 135 yards, and a touchdown on just 10 carries.
The club will look to move to 2-0 when they travel to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.