The Los Angeles Chargers will be hurt in more ways than one with Justin Herbert likely missing the entire preseason following a plantar fascia injury. But there may be no player on the team who will be hurt more by his absence than wide receiver Quentin Johnston.
Though Herbert is expected to make a gradual recovery leading into the start of the regular season, Johnston is not in a great position to be catching passes from backup quarterbacks. Despite Jim Harbaugh constantly talking Johnston up, he has been dropping passes in camp and almost looking lost at times when trying to make a grab over his shoulder.
The Chargers are getting fed up with Quentin Johnston
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Johnston played in five games with backup quarterback Easton Stick last season when Herbert went down with an injured finger. He caught just 12 passes. Heading into this season, Johnston could be behind Joshua Palmer, Ladd McConkey, and D.J. Chark in the pecking order, and will now have to work with Stick to make up the ground before the season starts.
The roller-coaster offseason continues for Quentin Johnston
Drafted in the first round last year, it has been a rough start for Johnston, who thrived while at TCU in college. The last thing he needed was for the starting quarterback to go down, losing all of those potential reps the rest of the way in camp and preseason games.
The coaching staff won't be able to completely overlook his natural talent, but Johnston has to show it on the field in game action at some point, something he didn't do much at all as a rookie.
One thing that could help is that Max Duggan, his college quarterback at TCU, will see more chances now as the team's third-string QB. He is more familiar with Johnston than any quarterback so that could be something to watch for.
Either way, if Johnston is going to move up the depth chart beyond the perceived WR4 slot he currently sits in, he will have to make some plays with the backups.
