Justin Herbert injury: Chargers QB hurts his foot, but he's expected to be ready for start of regular season

Justin Herbert's challenging offseason just got a little tougher. Per the Chargers , Herbert has been diagnosed with an injury to the plantar fascia in his right foot and will likely be in a walking boot for the next two weeks. The expectation is that Herbert will be ready for the start of the regular season.

Following his time in a boot, Herbert will undergo a gradual return to play protocol. This means that Herbert will miss a least a significant chunk of training camp, which isn't good on several fronts.

Herbert had already been tasked with building a rapport with a re-vamped receiving corps after losing wideouts Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and running back Austin Ekeler this past offseason. Those players have been replaced by rookie wideout Ladd McConkey , second-year man Quentin Johnston, veteran receiver DJ Chark and former Ravens running backs Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins .

Along with having a slew of new teammates, Herbert also has a new offensive coordinator for the fourth time in his five seasons with the Chargers. Greg Roman, Herbert's new offensive coordinator, comes to Los Angeles after serving as Lamar Jackson's coordinator in Baltimore from 2019-22.

When healthy, Herbert has proven to be one of the NFL's most productive quarterbacks. He threw a combined 69 touchdown passes during his first two seasons and in 2021 became the ninth quarterback to throw for more than 5,000 yards in a season.

After three largely productive seasons, Herbert endured a challenging 2023 season that ended prematurely after he broke a finger on his throwing hand in Week 14. The Chargers fired head coach Brandon Staley during the season and eventually replaced him with Jim Harbaugh, who last year led Michigan to the school's first national title since 1997.