Patrick Herbert Suited Up. The Chargers' Tight End Room Is Now Whatever This Is.

Patrick Herbert — the quarterback's younger brother, signed this offseason — is now the No. 2 tight end on the active roster. That's where things stand. Njoku is on IR. Kolar is on IR. The position that was supposed to give Justin Herbert a legitimate receiving weapon in the middle of the field is down to Oronde Gadsden, Patrick Herbert in his NFL debut, and Hayden Rucci, who was signed off the street in late September.

The tight end situation has been collapsing in stages all season. Njoku went out on a cart in Week 2 against the Raiders with a right knee injury. Kolar followed him to IR two days later. Rucci was the emergency addition. Now Patrick Herbert — signed this spring in what read at the time as a feel-good roster footnote — is a genuine piece of the game plan. That is not a criticism of him. It is just a description of how far down the depth chart the Chargers are operating.

The broader picture around Herbert hasn't gotten easier. McConkey's ribs have kept the receiving corps thin for weeks. Valdes-Scantling is on the practice squad. The tight end group that was supposed to ease pressure on the outside receivers no longer exists in any conventional sense. Justin Herbert has made a career out of working through difficult situations — he's durable, he's accurate, and he finds ways to distribute the ball — but the options available to him right now are genuinely slim.

Worth watching over the next couple of weeks: whether Gadsden can carry the position as the clear lead option, and whether Patrick Herbert's debut gives the staff anything to build on. Those are small questions. They're also the only tight end questions the Chargers have left to ask.