PITTSBURGH — Taylor Heinicke was as prepared as anyone could be for what unfolded in the fourth quarter of the Chargers’ 20-10 loss Sunday to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had studied the playbook from front to back. He had meshed with fellow quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Easton Stick.
Well, he was as prepared as anyone could be after spending less than a month with his new team, after a trade from the Atlanta Falcons in the final days before the Chargers opened the season Sept. 8. He had learned on the fly and he expected the unexpected in his Chargers debut.
In fact, Heinicke was prepared to start against the Steelers if Herbert’s sprained right ankle wasn’t sound enough to go. There was, after all, a question all week as to whether Herbert could play after he was injured during the third quarter of the Chargers’ victory Sept. 15 over the Carolina Panthers.
Herbert played three quarters, but could go no further. Heinicke entered in the fourth quarter and completed two passes for a total of 24 yards. He was sacked three times behind a depleted offensive line after left tackle Rashawn Slater suffered a pectoral injury and sat out the fourth quarter.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with the playbook the last two or three weeks,” said Heinicke, 31, who was a backup for his first three seasons in the NFL but then was thrust into a starter’s role while with the Washington Commanders after Ryan Fitzpatrick was hurt in Week 1 against the Chargers in 2021.
“We’ll see how this week goes and what happens.”
BOSA SIDELINED
Joey Bosa went down and out first, exiting the game on the Chargers’ first defensive play because of a hip injury. His absence threw the Charges’ pass-rush out of kilter, with Tuli Tuipulotu taking over for him opposite Khalil Mack and Bud Dupree adding depth beyond those two.
Mack and safety Derwin James Jr. each sacked Pittsburgh quarterback Justin Fields once, but the Chargers’ overall pressure was limited. Bosa had been a menace in each of the first two games of the season, victories over Carolina and the Las Vegas Raiders, recording one sack in each game and nine tackles overall.
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“That was tough, that was tough, especially on the edge group,” Mack said of Bosa’s injury. “We expected a different game. We’re going to have to rally and regroup. He looked (ticked) off. It’s something we’re going to talk about later. We weren’t able to get too much into it during the game, but we’re going to figure it out.
“First play of the game, that was a huge blow.”
EXTRA POINTS
J.K. Dobbins’ streak of 100-yard games ended when he gained only 44 yards on 15 carries against the Steelers. … The Chargers had only one first down in the second half and 10 for the game and they had negative 5 yards of net total offense in the second half and a net of 168 for the game. … Linebacker Daiyan Henley had a team-leading 12 tackles for the Chargers.