Justin Herbert Gets Brutally Trolled for His Cocky Attitude with Reporter After Chargers’ OT Win

Justin Herbert played with a broken hand against the Eagles.

Justin Herbert Gets Brutally Trolled for His Cocky Attitude with Reporter After Chargers’ OT Win

Justin Herbert (Image via IMAGO/X)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Justin Herbert had two choices following the Los Angeles Chargers’ overtime win against the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles–enjoy the win with his teammates or give a post-game interview. Hebert went with the first option and created a lot of fuss on social media.

Herbert started against the Eagles with a broken left hand, which nagged him throughout the game. He completed just 12 passes for 139 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, fumbled twice and needed a helping hand from Cameron Dicker after regulation time to secure a 22-19 victory.

According to OptaStats, Justin Herbert became the first quarterback ever to complete less than 50% of his passes, throw under 150 yards, get sacked 7 times and turn the ball over on multiple occasions and still win an NFL game.

Needless to say, Herbert was excited by the team effort. He went around congratulating his teammates for the hard-fought victory, all the while, ESPN’s sideline reporter, Laura Rutledge, tried to interview him.

Justin Herbert rubs social media the wrong way by declining to speak with Laura Rutledge

Rutledge remained professional and briefly followed Herbert around wherever he went. The Pro Bowl signal caller told her, “I’m trying to celebrate with my team,” and looked to go about his business.

Justin Herbert Gets Brutally Trolled for His Cocky Attitude with Reporter After Chargers' OT Win
Justin Herbert (Image via IMAGO)

Herbert’s reaction created a social media meltdown. Fans criticized his behavior toward Rutledge, who was only following protocol. Among them was former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel.

Coming from someone who played 14 years & with Justin…he has to understand that this is part of his job & not fight it regardless if you think it adds to the viewing experience or not (it does). Laura Rutledge did a fantastic job staying calm & simply explaining that she just wanted to talk to him really fast.

Chase Daniel tweeted

Joe Osborne of Covers, a sports betting website, took a cheeky dig at Herbert. “Herbert Heel turn?,” Osborne tweeted.

Leah Vann, a leading journalist for Chron posted a thought-provoking tweet in support of Rutledge.

Barstool Sports contributor Kayce Smith did not hold back on bashing Herbert.

Hey, bro, you get paid $262 million to play football. When the prime time broadcast wants an interview, you stand there as EVERYBODY ELSE does and do the interview. Grow up.

Smith wrote

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Herbert. He received support from big names. For example, former Kansas City Chiefs guard and well-known X personality Mitchell Schwartz pointed out that Herbert isn’t at fault, and the clip just makes him look like the bad guy.

The missing component here is someone on the Chargers PR staff being next to Herbert, telling him it’s ESPN doing their postgame interview. To him, that’s someone random asking for his interview, usually with QBs, they have someone direct them to the required one(s). Not on Herbert.

Schwartz quipped

Former NFL Network contributor Lindsay Rhodes posted a similar view to Schwartz.

I’m curious how this went behind the scenes. Interviews like this are typically arranged with team PR before the game is over. It’s why you so frequently see a team PR person walking with players in shots before the interview. Curious what was agreed to here.

Rhodes tweeted

Super Bowl-winning defensive end Chris Long noted that the entire scenario is being blown out of proportion. Long shed light on a fact that most people overlooked when calling out Herbert.

Do you know why he did not want to do that interview? Because he had surgery on his hand six days ago, and he’s been waging an information war all week. People being trying to get the truth: how do you feel?… The guy’s gotta (expletive) broken hand. A prime example of like when you see something on the surface, if it doesn’t make sense, then maybe think it through.

Chris Long said on the Green Light podcast

The Chargers improved to a 9-4 record and are second in the AFC West behind the 11-2 Denver Broncos. Herbert is likely to play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week.

Also Read: