Chargers to start Trey Lance vs. Broncos on Sunday

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Chargers arrived at the final week of the regular season exactly where Jim Harbaugh wanted them: in the playoffs, healthy enough to choose caution, and steady enough to trust the process.

What they don’t have is certainty.

At 11-5 with a berth clinched, the Chargers enter Week 18 still waiting to learn their Wild Card opponent. A win Sunday in Denver could push them to 12-5 and possibly secure the fifth seed. A loss would mirror last season’s 11-6 finish. For Harbaugh, the math has never mattered as much as the mission.

And so, as the calendar turned to New Year’s Eve, the Chargers practiced again at The Bolt, preparing for a 13-3 Broncos team while also preparing for something else entirely: life without Justin Herbert for a week.

Herbert won’t play on Sunday. That decision was announced plainly, and in classic Harbaugh fashion, without drama.

“The guys that have the most bruises and need the most healing, we’ll pull them back,” Harbaugh said.

Herbert’s response was equally on-brand.

“Few words,” Harbaugh said. Respected our decision. Not like it’s a week off — he was the last person to leave the building last night and one of the first in this morning.”

So while Herbert rehabs and prepares for January, Trey Lance gets the start.

It’s his first start of the season, his first meaningful opportunity since preseason, and perhaps the most important snap-to-snap evaluation of his NFL career.

Lance will line up behind an offensive line that looks more like a laboratory experiment than a finished product: Austin Deculus at left tackle, rookie Branson Taylor at left guard, Andre James at center, Trevor Penning at right guard, and Bobby Hart at right tackle. This was the combination being used at practice on Wednesday.

Zion Johnson, Harbaugh’s favorite — “No one I love more than Zion,” he said — has played every snap this season, but this week is about depth, development, and durability.

Harbaugh confirmed Derius Davis, Benjamin St-Juste, RJ Mickens, and Kimani Vidal returned to practice, while Jamaree Salyer remains out with a hamstring injury, trending “in a really good direction” but unlikely to go Sunday. Keenan Allen was held out on a rest day, and Derwin James, Khalil Mack, and Bradley Bozeman were also not practicing on Wednesday. Whether anyone besides Herbert sits remains “TBD.”

That uncertainty creates space. And Lance is stepping into it.

The former No. 3 overall pick signed a one-year deal with the Chargers in April, worth up to $6.2 million with incentives, a base value around $2 million, and $1.5 million guaranteed. It was a prove-it contract in every sense — prove you belong, prove you’ve grown, prove the league didn’t get it wrong.

Through three brief regular-season appearances, Lance has gone 7-for-13 for 90 yards. His last action came on Nov. 30 against the Raiders. Sunday in Denver will be different. This time, he’ll know he’s “up.”

“It’s awesome to get reps and know for sure I’m going to be up,” Lance said after Wednesday’s practice. “Going through everything my first five years in the league, I’ve just learned to take everything one day at a time.”

Those five years have been a crash course in patience. Lance has learned from Jimmy Garoppolo, Dak Prescott, and Justin Herbert — quarterbacks he calls “the best leaders” he’s ever been around. He’s watched how they prepare, how they handle adversity, how they command a room without forcing it.

Now it’s his turn.

This start isn’t about replacing Herbert. It’s about trust. Trust that the system can function. Trust that the roster can absorb rest days. Trust that a playoff-bound team doesn’t need to empty the tank just to prove a point in Week 18.

It’s also, unmistakably, an audition.

Around the league, teams will be watching closely. Lance’s arm talent has never been the question. Sunday is about rhythm, command, and decision-making — about showing he can steer an offense, even with rotating parts, even at altitude, even against a Broncos team that has already piled up 13 wins.

Harbaugh knows what this season could have been. Herbert fought through injuries. Khalil Mack returned from an elbow injury in just four weeks. The margins were thin, and the direction could have shifted quickly. Instead, Harbaugh kept the ship steady, and the Chargers arrived at Week 18 on the verge of another playoff run in his second season at the helm.

Seeding, Harbaugh insists, doesn’t matter. Preparation does.

So Sunday in Denver becomes a paradox: a game that counts and doesn’t, a start that means everything to Lance and nothing to Herbert’s status, a finale that doubles as a prelude.

If Lance plays well, the Chargers get momentum, confidence, and confirmation that their depth is real. If he struggles, they still board the plane knowing Herbert will be under center when it truly matters.

For Lance, though, this is personal.

Week 18 is his chance to turn patience into proof — to show that the road he’s taken, winding and uneven, still leads somewhere meaningful.

At altitude, with the playoffs waiting, Lance finally gets the ball.