Justin Herbert has the opportunity to make some unique NFL history on Sunday when the Los Angeles Chargers face the Buffalo Bills. The quarterback's younger brother Patrick was elevated off the Chargers' practice squad on Saturday, setting the tight end up to make his NFL debut on Sunday afternoon. The Herbert brothers haven't played for the same team in seven years when they both competed for the Oregon Ducks.
However, the Herbert brothers never connected on a pass during their one season together at Oregon. Patrick only played in two games his freshman year while his brother led a spectacular senior season for the Ducks. That could change on Sunday, though, if the quarterback finds his brother on the field.
If the Herbert brothers do connect on a pass, then they will make history by establishing the first time a brother will have passed a ball to his brother in the NFL. There's been plenty of brothers to play in the NFL at the same time — Peyton and Eli Manning, Jason and Travis Kelce and the Watt brothers, to name a few. First of all, it's rare for brothers to be on the same NFL roster, let alone be on opposites sides of the ball with one of the brothers being a quarterback.
The situation hasn't really presented itself in NFL's past and present, so it's no wonder the Herbert brothers could be the one to etch their names in the history books this week. Although the younger Herbert has no NFL experience yet, the hope of elevating him is to provide some more depth with the tight end position as the Chargers have dealt with various injury struggles recently. First-year Charger David Njoku was carted off the field in the Week 2 loss to the Raiders with a fibula injury, and the team has since placed him on the injured reserve list.
Tight end Charlie Kolar also walked away from the loss with an injury, one to his left forearm. He ended up not landing on the IR. These injuries left Los Angeles with just one tight end on the roster: Oronde Gadsden.
He isn't a bad starting TE option for the Chargers — Gadsden has caught all four passes thrown to him for 50 yards and one touchdown through the first two games. LA will need to hope Gadsden doesn't also get hurt any time soon, though, as newly signed Hayden Rucci and Herbert aren't the best second options for the starting position, especially as the team started out 0–2.
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