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Kris Rhim, ESPN
LOS ANGELES — It’s almost always been this way for Taylor Heinicke.
Heinicke, the Chargers backup quarterback, who the team signed less than a month ago, stood on the sideline of Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, expected to engineer a comeback after quarterback Justin Herbert aggravated a high right ankle sprain.
It’s a role Heinicke has grown comfortable in over his seven seasons in the NFL, largely as a backup and filling in for injured or benched starters. Sunday was the latest chapter, against a fierce Pittsburgh defense in its home opener, surrounded by fans waving yellow towels.
This time, however, the book didn’t have a fairytale finish. Heinicke spent most of the game on his back, sacked three times in four dropbacks. He finished the game 2 of 2 for 20 yards and the Chargers lost 20-10. Still, they may lean on Heinicke again this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs as Herbert nurses his injury.
If it is Heinicke Sunday, it’ll be his 30th start in the NFL, an unlikely outcome for a player who went undrafted out of Old Dominion in 2015 but earned a spot in the NFL with memorable big games in relief for starters.
“It’s a difficult spot,” Heinicke said, “but I feel like my whole career has been like that.”
Difficult is perhaps an understatement for what Heinicke could be walking into Sunday. The Chargers will take on the best team of this era in the Kansas City Chiefs, who are 3-0 this season, with just about all the Chargers’ top players sidelined or nagging injuries. The list includes Herbert (ankle), tackles Joe Alt (knee) and Rashawn Slater (pectoral) and pass rusher Joey Bosa (hip).
But Heinicke has thrived in non-advantageous circumstances before.
The 2020 NFL season was a turning point in his career. He was with Washington, and Commanders quarterback Alex Smith was ruled out of the team’s first-round playoff game against the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers. It was Heinicke’s second career start, but he looked like he belonged. He threw for 306 yards and one touchdown, leading the team in rushing with 46 yards.
His best play of the game may have come in the third quarter when the Commanders were down 18-10 and facing a third-and-5. Heinicke escaped a collapsing pocket and scrambled nine yards for a diving score. It prompted linebacker Chase Young to grab and point at Heinicke’s nameplate while looking at TV cameras. The Commanders lost 31-23, but Heinicke won the respect of the NFL that night.
“I deserve to be in this league a little longer,” Heinicke said then. “I’ve been on the other side not playing and it’s not fun, not as fun as this.”
After the game, Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin talked to Heinicke as they exited the field. McLaurin wanted to let Heinicke know how much he appreciated him.
“I’ll take No. 4 on my team any day of the week, twice on Sunday,” McLaurin said. “I hope we’re teammates in the future.
“That dude plays with no fear. He’s going to give his players a chance to make plays. He extends plays, he runs, he takes hits. He does everything you ask a quarterback to do in this league.
Heinicke started 24 games for the Commanders over the next two seasons, including 15 in 2021. His best moment over that span came during the 2021 season, a win over the Falcons where Heinicke scrambled to his left and threw back to his right for a 30-yard touchdown pass to running back J.D. McKissic with 33 seconds remaining, earning Washington a 34-30 victory over Atlanta.
Heinicke’s performance was so impressive that it may have earned him a spot in Atlanta. The Falcons signed him ahead of the 2023 season, where he started four games and finished 1-3. Heinicke spent training camp this season with the Falcons before the Chargers traded a conditional sixth-round pick for him. During training camp, he sat behind quarterback Kirk Cousins and rookie Michael Penix Jr.; Cousins described Heinicke as a “great resource” and was sad to see him traded.
“We’ll be really pulling for him, this game or however long he plays,” Cousins said. “He just has a great feel for the position. And I just respect the path he took to get where he got. It’s one thing to kind of have everybody pave the way for you, but when you didn’t have that, it says something about who you are as a person and a player because you do have to overcome so much, and he’s done that.”
There’s still a chance Heinicke doesn’t play Sunday; Herbert said Wednesday that he is “doing everything to play” this weekend and that his ankle is feeling better. If Heinicke does start, he’ll have had less than a month with the playbook, potentially playing with a mostly injured offensive line, and against one of the best teams in the NFL.
But, at this point, Heinicke’s become snug in chaos.
“I think any quarterback would feel pressure because you want to go out there and win games and that’s our main goal,” Heinicke said. “I don’t feel the pressure to prove to other teams. I feel the pressure of going to win.”
NFL reporters John Keim and Marc Raimondi contributed to this story.