Chargers QB Justin Herbert Postgame Transcript 1/11
CHARGERS QUARTERBACK JUSTIN HERBERT
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
January 11, 2026
Q: Justin, what did you think of the way you played today?
JH: Not good enough. We’ve got to score points. The defense gave us every shot we needed to, and it wasn’t enough.
Q: Realizing that obviously the emotions are still raw, what is your confidence in yourself that you will be able to get over this hump eventually, get a playoff win, make a playoff run?
JH: I don’t know. I haven’t figured it out yet. Hasn’t happened, so we’ll have to reevaluate and see what happens.
Q: How frustrating is it to be in this situation again with how well you guys have played at points this year?
JH: It’s really tough to lose. We gave everything we had, and it’s not good enough. Defense, like I said, gave us every shot that we needed to, and it’s not enough.
Q: You guys got the early turnover, obviously went for it on fourth down. Was that a carryover effect at all, not converting points on the two turnovers tonight?
JH: Yeah, we just have to be able to score and we didn’t do that today. That’s on us as an offense. When we get those opportunities, we have to do everything we can to get ball in the end zone, and we let the defense down today.
Q: Collectively, when your offense struggles like that, were they showing you something different than you expected from your film study?
JH: No. It’s just on us to go out there and execute. Like we always say, we have to score points in the red zone, convert on third down, limit turnovers, and we didn’t do any of those today.
Q: You haven’t made an excuse all year and I’m not asking you to now, but now that the season is over, can you describe the limitations that you had with your hand, especially tonight?
JH: No, it’s – the training staff did a great job getting me ready to go. As long as they felt safe and comfortable, and I did as well, there was no issues. I just have to do a better job of holding on to the ball.
Q: The Patriots’ defense, over the last couple weeks, have gotten a few of their important guys back. It seemed like for them everything clicked. Seemed like you didn’t have a ton of guys open downfield. Can you talk about this Patriots defense? Was it as good as it looked tonight?
JH: Yeah, they played well. We’ve got nothing but respect for them. As an offense, it wasn’t good enough today, I didn’t play well enough and didn’t make any plays. When it mattered most we didn’t score any points.
Q: If you had to break down, what was difficult tonight, especially throwing the ball downfield?
JH: Just didn’t execute. It’s on us to be able to convert on third down, and when we get our shots in the red zone we have to be able to score points.
Q: How do you feel like you were seeing the field tonight?
JH: Obviously not well enough. That’s the tough part. We have to do better than three points. As an offense, it’s not good enough. Quarterback play wasn’t good enough. We let the defense down today.
Q: Just moving into another offseason here, three trips to the playoffs, you haven’t been able to get one yet. Mentally, how are you going to approach that heading into this offseason and how are you going to maintain your mentality heading into next season just knowing another opportunity has passed here?
JH: I don’t know. I haven’t figured that out yet. That’s the tough part about the NFL. There are a lot of good teams, and wasn’t good enough today.
Transcripts are provided by the Patriots media relations department as a courtesy to the media and are edited for readability. All press conferences are posted and archived in their entirety on patriots.com. The duplication or posting of this transcript in its entirety as original content is prohibited. Media are encouraged to link to the complete transcript on patriots.com when sharing full quotes with their audiences.