Los Angeles Chargers 29 - Miami Dolphins 27
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah. The thing that was going through my mind was no sacks. A throwaway is better than a sack in that situation where we gotta race against time. And I felt like I could stay up and get the ball off, and I saw Lad running on the other side. It was just a great play called by Coach Roman and Lad making a great play on it.
JUSTIN HERBERT: That's what he does. He's done such a great job of that, and I just gotta get him the ball in space. And that's what he goes and does. And when we needed him most he showed up big time.
Q. Talk about the emotions during the game.
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah. Just as long as we have time and downs, we're going to keep fighting, and I thought the offensive line did a great job battling all day, and those guys hung in there against a really good front seven. And Cam came through again, and he's been so clutch, and we're so lucky to have a kicker like him.
Q. Walk us through what you saw on that long completion to Lad.
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah. Like I was saying, it's a race against time. A throwaway is better than a sack, and I was doing my best to just get the ball off. And the play before, you know, they played good coverage, got the ball off, thankfully, saved some time. And then the next play went through my reads, had to step up in the pocket, and Lad did a great job just running across the middle, making a play and just extending the game.
Q. Justin, thinking about the Denver play, you were spun around a little bit at the end of the Denver game. But to reorient after you're spun around and make that play, is it a thought process or is it just instinctive?
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah. I think you go back to your training, and I think it starts with our quarterback coach, Shane Day, and our pocket movement and our pocket progression of understanding that you gotta keep your eyes down field, but at the same time you've got five, six, seven guys coming after you in the pocket.
So the offensive line did a great job battling, giving me room to move up, step around and find someone down field. And Lad did a great job making a play, making the guy miss and being smart and going out of bounds.
Q. Is it tempting to run in that situation or are you thinking pass?
JUSTIN HERBERT: You're thinking pass. You're thinking completions down field are more important than completions inbounds. We only have one timeout, 40 something seconds. So it's all about getting chunk plays and getting into field goal range.
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah. I think I'd have to watch it, but I think it's back to your training, too, and understanding that having a good base and making sure that I've got two hands on the ball, because those guys are so well trained and taught to go in there and rip at the ball. A mental error of just having one hand on the ball is going to cost you the game.
So I think Shane Day has done such a great job of teaching us and instilling that in practice every day, and having that base and just sometimes being lucky, I guess.
Q. What can you say about the way Kimani kept up in the back field today?
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah, it was awesome to see. He had a great year last year. He stepped up in some big-time big plays last year, so that's what we were expecting from him. He's done such a great job of listening and understanding what we're asking of him. And he took the most of it today, and it's awesome to see that he took the most of that opportunity.
Q. Early fumble.
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah. It's obviously tough. Your first NFL season, you want it to be perfect, and he's done such a great job picking up the offense. And, yeah, mistakes are going to happen. We've all been there, interceptions, fumbles, and he did a great job responding, reacting and had five, six, seven catches after that, I think.
Q. How did you feel like you guys were able to execute the game plan?
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah. I think we played the way that we needed to to win, and I think we did a great job taking what the defense gave us. We were opportunistic. And I thought the tackles stepped up, Dec and Bobby did a great job.
For not playing as much as they have, they did a great job. They fought. I thought the offensive line did a great job communicating all day. Ran the ball really well, too. So that was really good to see.
Q. Did you see Zion sprinting down the field in front of you on that completion to Lad?
JUSTIN HERBERT: I did not.
Q. He might have been moving 20 miles an hour.
JUSTIN HERBERT: He was moving. That's awesome. Yeah. I'm definitely going to have that watch that. He's a special player, and that's going to be something else to watch.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports