At first glance, the play seemed innocent enough.

On the Chargers first offensive drive of a Week 13 home game against the Raiders, Justin Herbert scrambled to his left and picked up a single yard before being tackled by safety Jeremy Chinn.

Herbert headed back to the huddle, relayed the play call, promptly evaded the Las Vegas pass rush and fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston.

The Bolts defense forced a punt on the next Raiders drive. But when the offense trotted back onto the field, backup Trey Lance was leading the charge.

"We scored on that drive and had no idea," Chargers tackle Trey Pipkins III recalled. "Justin hit a dude but came back to the huddle and wasn't grimacing or holding his hand.

"But when he didn't come back out we were like, 'Oh, what happened to Justin?,'" Pipkins added.

Herbert had fractured his left hand, an injury he continues to play through.

But Lance's time in the huddle lasted just eight plays as Herbert put himself back in the game on third-and-10 from the Bolts 46-yard line.

Herbert hit Keenan Allen on an out route for 10 yards and the first down. Because of course he did.

"He comes running back out there," Pipkins said with a laugh. "That's just who he is. You just love having him as your quarterback."

The Chargers will play postseason football on Sunday night in New England.

But — to put it as simply as possible — the Bolts would not be here if it wasn't for their franchise quarterback.

Herbert's toughness is perhaps the story of the Chargers 2025 season, and even the quarterback himself acknowledged the perception he can create by showing teammates, coaches and the entire organization that he's willing to keep picking himself up off the turf.

"It's just part of the game of playing quarterback and expecting you're going to get hit and it's going to be tough," Herbert said after a Week 3 comeback win over the Broncos. "You've got to stay gritty and know they're going to knock you down, but you have to get back up.

"The offensive line is looking at you, the receivers and tight ends, making sure you're the leader and stepping up and getting back up, for sure," Herbert added.

And those who have seen it up close marvel at what the 27-year-old has been able to withstand in his sixth NFL season.

"Where would we be without 10? Oh, man. Ain't no telling, bro," Khalil Mack said late in the 2025 season. "Just knowing his tenacity and his heart and the grit and resolve that he plays with … having that at the quarterback position, you don't see that often.

"Over my 12 years, he's the most unique person I've seen at that position. There's some guys who have kind of had that, but it's something different with what he's been playing with and how he's been playing through it. It's somewhat crazy but also somewhat remarkable and unbelievable."

Mack is a future Hall of Famer who is one of the steeliest players on the entire roster.

He came back from a gruesome elbow injury in just over a month when other players might have missed half the season. Few outwork him on the field or in the weight room.

Mack said last month that Herbert is the toughest quarterback he has ever played with. After all, what other quarterback would try to stiff arm a defender with a broken hand that Herbert had surgery on just seven days prior?

"Hands down. It's not close," Mack said. "I played with some tough guys but he's another step above."

Herbert has needed that physical and mental toughness in 2025.

The Chargers lost Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater to a knee injury before the season before.

The Bolts pivoted by moving standout young tackle Joe Alt from right to left tackle to protect Herbert's blindside.

But Alt's 2025 season lasted just six games as he was lost for the year with an ankle injury.

Backup linemen such as Jamaree Salyer and Pipkins were each also lost for multiple games.

The Chargers turned to multiple different starting options at tackle, including Trevor Penning, who was acquired at the 2025 trade deadline.

Austin Deculus, who was acquired in an August trade, made four starts in front of Herbert. And Bobby Hart made seven starts in front of Herbert despite the fact that the veteran was added to the roster in October and hadn't started a game since 2021.

All in all, the Chargers rolled through 10 different starting offensive line combinations and more than 20 different five-man configurations in front of Herbert.

"The thing that amazes me about him this year is that a lot of the pockets have been under duress and it really hasn't affected him as much as it would for most quarterbacks," Chargers quarterbacks coach Shane Day said in December. "He's still finding ways to make the same throws and still finding ways to win games.

"Sometimes when it's chaos in there, it's really hard to function as a quarterback," Day added. "But he finds a way to do it."

Herbert has been battered and bloodied in 2025, and the data backs up just how much he willed the Chargers to the playoffs.

Herbert was sacked 54 times in 2025, the second-most in the NFL. That total is the third-most by a quarterback who won at least 11 games in the Super Bowl era.

He was also hit a whopping 129 times, tied for second-most by a quarterback in the past 20 seasons.

There were also 268 pressures, the sixth-most a quarterback has faced since 2016. And there were 109 quick pressures, the most in the league this season.

"Justin is a competitor. He's elite. And he never ceases to amaze me season to season," said Chargers left guard Zion Johnson. "Even when I got here, I knew.

"He's a warrior and he's going to give everything he's got to win," Johnson added. "It's just special when you have a quarterback like that who is willing to get down and dirty and get things done."

Pipkins added: "We've always known that he's just the ultimate competitor. If he can get out there, he's going to do it no matter what he has going on. We knew that. But the more times it happens it's just like, 'This dude is unbelievable.' It's just awesome to always see it happen."

Not that Herbert ever let anyone notice the constant pestering he endured in the pocket.

"There's almost something about it, he takes that hit and there's no facial expression change, there's no limp, there's no grabbing," Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said earlier this season. "It's almost like it didn't even happen.

"There's something in his competitive fire where it motivates him even more," Harbaugh added. "It even takes him to another notch."

The irony in all of this?

Herbert slimmed down in the offseason, according to Day, and focused on agility rather than bulking up. The quarterback rushed for a career-best 498 yards in 16 games.

"He made a concerted effort in the offseason to change his body. In the past, maybe his strategy was to get as big as he could to withstand these hits," Day said. "But this year with his offseason and training camp he said, 'I'm going to get in the best shape of my life.'

"He got leaner, faster, is setting personal records for speed," Day continued. "I think his mindset is now, 'I can't just absorb hits. I need to get out of there and make plays.'

"There's more opportunities [to run], but he's also ready for those moments and has gotten his body in peak condition to do it," Day added.

Herbert almost certainly will not win the NFL MVP award this season. But if you truly watch the games, you'll see that Herbert belongs in that conversation.

Sure, other quarterbacks might have gaudier stats and more wins. But few players, if anyone, had to endure the shoddy circumstances Herbert did in 2025.

"To me, it was an MVP season," Chargers Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman said. "With all the attrition we've had and what he's been able to do to lead the team to a playoff berth … when you look around the league with other teams that have attrition such as this, the results aren't quite the same.

"When you really go back and look at it, the way he has gutted through and found a way to will us to victory," Roman continued. "Those are the games that get you in the playoffs and you don't come by it easy."

Roman later added: "In terms of Justin and what he's had to deal with this year, I think it's a career-defining type of year."

Herbert, of course, is looking for his first playoff win after not getting one after the 2022 and 2024 seasons.

The quarterback recently reflected on his most-recent outing, a four-interception performance in Houston as the Bolts lost in the Wild Card Round.

"I sure hope so," Herbert said when asked if learned anything from the loss to the Texans. "I think those are games that, as hard as they are to watch, you have to learn from them.

"You watch [the turnovers] individually and see what went wrong on this play, what you could've done differently," Herbert continued. "It's just part of the game.

"Unfortunately, it didn't go our way and there's nothing I can do to change that," Herbert added. "It's more so what can you learn from it, how can you move forward and give everything you can to put this team in a position to win."

Herbert later revealed that the Houston loss stuck with him for the majority of the offseason.

"I think it was one of those things you continue to think about," Herbert said. "There are a lot of football games you just remember, whether they're good or whether they're bad, they stick with you. I think it's great learning experience.

"No one felt worse than I did after that game and I think it's important to continue to move forward and realize that it's what happened," Herbert continued. "It would be crazy of me to deny the truth of what happened and to live in this reality where if I tried to block it out, I don't think that's doing any good.

"I think just moving on and understanding what it was and attack the next game like you've always prepared for," Herbert added.

That next game is **Sunday night against the Patriots**.

It's a playoff game, and another chance for Herbert to try and lead the Bolts to postseason success.

But no matter what happens in the Wild Card Round, Herbert has already proven how valuable, how composed and how tough he was in 2025.

"Every time we have an opportunity in the playoffs, it's a chance for us to help show people who and what he is," Pipkins said. "He deserves all of the accolades because he's that level of a player.

"The fact we haven't been able to get one for him is [unfortunate]," Pipkins added. "It's a great opportunity for our team to be able to help him with that and get him the praise he deserves."

Derwin James said: "I don't want to imagine my life without him. All I know is that I have him. And that we always have a chance of winning if he's on my team."

Johnson said: "I wouldn't want to go into the postseason with any other quarterback. He's our guy."