Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert respond to Quentin Lake's "seeing ghosts" critique

Published November 4, 2026 08:31 PM As the football-following world tries to figure out the problem(s) with Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Rams safety Quentin Lake provided a scathing critique of Herbert’s most recent performance, in a 24-9 loss to the Rams.“He was throwing deli meat out there,” Lake said. “He’s seeing ghosts. I don’t know what’s going on, but we knew we were gonna get a couple. At least one.”They got two.On Wednesday, both Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh and Herbert himself were asked about Lake’s remarks.“As far as anybody’s opinion I don’t see that,” Harbaugh told reporters. “Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. Not what I see.” So what did Harbaugh see in the latest loss?“I thought he played — did his job exceptionally well,” Harbaugh said. “You know, two throws he would have liked to have back.”Herbert said he wasn’t aware of Lake’s comments.“I haven’t looked into it, haven’t heard anything about it, so I can’t really make a comment about it,” Herbert told reporters. “We’re really just focused on what’s going on in the building, playing football and doing what we can and doing our best to, you know, go put our best effort out on Sunday. And that’s all that really matters. Anything outside of that is out of our control.”Still, it’s jarring to hear an NFL defender make comments about a supposed franchise quarterback that make him seem like a Jets first-round draft pick who has yet to have the game slow down. Herbert is in the seventh year of his career. He’s making $52.5 million per year. Something has happened this year. It’s still not clear what it is, or whether it will change. Before it can change, the Chargers need to realize there’s a problem.And that’s the most confounding part of all of it. They’ve lost seven and won none; at times, they sound like they’ve won seven and lost none.