“We feel like we’re close.”
That’s what Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said after a 17-10 loss to the division rival Kansas City Chiefs, who are now 4-0 on the year.
The Chargers, now 2-2, head into a bye week tied for second in the AFC West. The bye is a way for the team to hit the reset button after losing two in a row and having a multitude of injuries. Defensive end Joey Bosa was out against the Chiefs, as were left tackle Rashawn Slater and right tackle Joe Alt. That’s on top of franchise quarterback Justin Herbert being less than 100 percent after dealing with a high ankle sprain since Week 2.
“Got to look at how we respond from here,” Harbaugh said, per team reporter Eric Smith. “It will be like starting the season over again when we come back.”
Defensive end Khalil Mack also feels there should be a sense of urgency heading into the bye.
“We’ve got to make a big push,” Mack said. “We can’t really think about this as a bye week. Got to think about it as a work week.”
Harbaugh’s not even looking at it as a bye week, giving the week another name instead.
“Bye week? I’d call it opportunity week,” Harbaugh said on Monday. “An opportunity to improve in the areas we need.”
Justin Herbert didn’t seem rattled after the loss and is sticking to the process instead of having a knee-jerk reaction after a close loss to the defending Super Bowl champs.
“We have to stay patient, understand that we got the right guys out there. We didn’t execute,” Herbert said .“It didn’t go our way and that’s not going to stop us going forward next week, two weeks, whenever it is.”
Harbaugh felt the Chargers were “at times really good” against the Chiefs, but knows the bar has to be set higher than that.
“Just good isn’t good enough to where we want to be,” Harbaugh said. “We got to chase the excellence.”
Following their Week 5 bye the Chargers head on the road for their first two contests in October against the Denver Broncos (2-2) and Arizona Cardinals (1-3) before closing the month out at home versus the New Orleans Saints (2-2).
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