Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh is frustrated by the lack of roughing the passer penalties for hits on Justin Herbert this season, and the team has submitted plays to the NFL for clarification.
“Does it sound like I’m complaining? Maybe? I could be,” Harbaugh said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN. “I think he doesn’t get some of those calls when they should be called.”
Officials have not penalized an opponent for an illegal hit on Herbert this season. Steelers quarterback Justin Fields leads the league with six roughing the passer penalties called on opponents.
The 13 roughing the passer penalties Herbert has drawn in his five seasons rank ninth-most.
Harbaugh said Herbert’s size works against him on drawing calls as it did for Basketball Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal, calling it “almost Shaq-like.” Harbaugh wanted a penalty called on reigning defensive player of the year Myles Garrett for putting his full body weight on Herbert on a 10-yard completion to Ladd McConkey early in the game.
Herbert took six sacks against the Browns on Sunday, three of them by Garrett, and has taken 21 for the season. That puts him on pace for a career-high 44.
Harbaugh admits the hits on Herbert are concerning.
“I think about it probably more than I think about anything, and I think about a lot of things,” Harbaugh said. “His protection? His safety? There’s probably nothing I think about more than that.”
