Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston had a rough game Monday night. He was targeted five times by Justin Herbert in the team's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and he came away with zero catches.
Going 0-fer in a big game would be bad enough, but the struggles didn't end there for Johnston. He actually dropped three of the five passes thrown his way, including one on a crucial third-and-6 early in the fourth quarter that led to a Chargers punt and then the Ravens driving down the field to make it a two-score game.
Following the game, Herbert stood up for the second-year wideout despite the drops, and also praised his improvement from Year 1 to Year 2, after Johnston had a really tough rookie season. Here's Herbert's entire answer, via BoltBeat:
I think that's the tough part about the NFL. He's a playmaker. He's done an incredible job all year. You never want to see that. Just like when I throw an interception or when I miss a throw, he's gonna come up to me and tell me, 'Hey, it's the next play'. And that's the way it is. Everyone in that locker room is professionals. Q will do a great job. I can give him better placement, better balls. It's on all of us. It's not just on him, it's on me for the way I gotta deliver the ball. I gotta make sure we're all on the same page. He's an incredible player and I'm gonna keep throwing him the ball...
He's a fighter. You trust him. And I'm gonna keep throwing him the ball. That's what we did out there. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way tonight. But I know he's gonna be the first one in the building and he's gonna do everything the right way. He's a truly great teammate, great guy. And he's gonna go make some plays. He's got a lot of good football left in front of him.
After posting 38 catches for 431 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games a year ago, Johnston has 22 grabs for 354 yards and six scores in his nine games this season. He's raised his yards-per-catch average by nearly five full yards, and he has done better work with the ball in his hands after the catch. (He already has more YAC this year than he did a year ago.)
He's had a few blow-up performances in Chargers wins -- five catches for 51 yards and two scores against the Panthers and 4-118-1 against the Browns being the most notable among them. Monday night's disappointing showing was more reminiscent of his rookie year, but as Herbert noted, Johnston has shown improvement. We shouldn't necessarily expect this to be the norm, even if we also shouldn't necessarily expect Johnston to live to his lofty draft status, either.