INGLEWOOD — Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack used a common term for fertilizer to describe the late hit the Las Vegas Raiders’ Jerry Tillery laid on quarterback Justin Herbert in the second quarter Sunday at SoFi Stadium. Wide receiver Keenan Allen agreed with Mack and called it a “bonehead play.”
The Chargers rallied to Herbert’s defense in no uncertain terms after Tillery, a former teammate, hit him well out of bounds on a scramble. They leaped off the bench and confronted Tillery en masse. Herbert was unhurt on the play, shaking it off “like a champ,” as Allen would say after a 24-17 victory.
“That was cheap,” Chargers defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day said. “That was whack. Hell, yeah, that’s our guy (Herbert), man. There’s no place in this game for that, you know? It’s already a violent game. Players put their bodies on the line each and every day to go out and perform.
“Why do something that stupid?”
Coach Brandon Staley smiled broadly when asked about the Chargers’ response to the illegal hit, saying “I love all that. I’m here for all of that. I love when my team looks like that. That’s their quarterback. That’s a sign of a good team. That was an igniter for us. … It helped fuel our guys.”
Tillery was penalized 15 yards for his late hit and ejected from the game. The Chargers, duly energized, went on to take a 24-7 halftime lead. Herbert continued to run with the ball and took a couple of solid hits, including one especially hard one on a fourth-quarter sack by the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby.
Herbert later brushed off Tillery’s hit.
“It was an unfortunate hit, but I thought it was cool the way our team reacted,” Herbert said of his teammates surrounding Tillery, who had to be pulled away from the Chargers by an official and led back to the Las Vegas sidelined. “It is what it is. It’s football, so it’s no hard feelings.”
INJURY REPORT
The Chargers played without edge rusher Joey Bosa, who had hamstring and toe injuries and didn’t practice all week. They also were without running back Austin Ekeler (ankle), safeties Alohi Gilman (heel), Derwin James Jr. (hamstring) and JT Woods (illness) and center Corey Linsley (heart ailment).
“It’s tough to replace a guy like Corey, a veteran like that who has had so much success in the league and is as smart as he is,” Herbert said when asked specifically about Linsley. “He’s an incredible leader. To have him in the locker room means the world to us. Losing a guy like that is definitely tough.”
Will Clapp replaced Linsley for Sunday’s game.
ELITE COMPANY
Mack became only the fifth player to record six sacks or more in a game since the NFL began tracking the statistic in 1982, joining Derrick Thomas, who holds the league record with seven in a game and also had six in another game, Adrian Clayborn, Osi Umenyiora and Fred Dean.