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How Mike McDaniel & Justin Herbert Collaborated on Chargers Offense During Bye Week

Oct 29, 2026 at 03:49 PM

Editorial Director

The Chargers didn't play a game last weekend, but that didn't mean it was a week off for the Bolts.

There was plenty of focus and an internal deep dive into what has led to the 0-6 start, particularly on offense.

"There wasn't really necessarily as much of a bye week because there were some problems to solve," Chargers Offensive Coordinator Mike McDaniel said Thursday.

With Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh vowing to look at everything offensively, the first order of business was to determine whether McDaniel would still be the play caller.

Harbaugh confirmed Wednesday that McDaniel will remain in that role.

"We're very confident in Mike, his talent, his work ethic, his ability. And continue to be," Harbaugh said.

McDaniel on Thursday said he understands questions surrounding his role.

"In this league, you have to produce results of there's going to be heat. I don't expect anything else," McDaniel said.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert backed his OC on Wednesday.

"It's not his fault. It's our fault as an offense. We have to do our job and it's not Mike's fault," Herbert said. "Guys are open and plays aren't being made, it's on us to run, to block, to catch, to throw. It's on us as an offense."

Through six games, the Bolts offense was underwhelming at best.

Entering Week 8, the Chargers rank last offensively across the league in EPA per play (-0.190), success rate (40.1 percent), points per game (15.0) and turnovers (15).

So, what did the bye week look like for the Chargers offense?

McDaniel revealed Thursday that he watched film with Herbert for four hours last week — a pair of two-hour sessions split over two days — in an effort to "find spots to build on and spots to improve."

McDaniel noted there was an even split of 50-50 dialogue between the two, with a focus on "mutual accountability" thus far. McDaniel said the meetings were beneficial considering they don't have time during a normal game week to dive as deep into the film.

"Just being able to meet with him, talk with him. I thought it was a useful bye," Herbert said.

On a big-picture level with the offense, right guard Cole Strange said McDaniel showed positive film clips to the unit to try and inspire some confidence in the group.

"He had cut ups with plays trying to get us with some momentum and some energy going in that direction of, 'Yeah, we've done good stuff.' We just got to put it together and whittle out the bad," Strange said. "Let that kind of inspire a little bit of confidence and don't think so much about what could go wrong. Move forward and just focus on what you're going to do well."

While the overall results from the offense have been disappointing through six games, Strange pointed to a handful of moments the unit can try to glean inspiration from.

For example, the offense scored 10 first-quarter points against the Bills on the road. The unit also rallied late with 17 second-half points in Seattle and had a pair of third-quarter touchdown drives against the Broncos.

But that positive momentum was stalled in the game before the bye, a Week 6 road game against the Chiefs when the offense scored a season-low six points and an EPA per play of -0.328.

That EPA per play was the worst of any team in Week 6 and the ninth-lowest EPA per play of any offense so far this season.

"I felt like in those games, you know, we kind of fought back," Strange said of Buffalo, Seattle and Denver. "Kansas City, not so much. We felt like we kind of took a dip right there."