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Justin Herbert Got His First Start Unexpectedly, But Here's How He Earned the Job Full-Time

This much I didn’t know—the ball was already in the air to kick off the Week 2 game between the Chargers and Chiefs when rookie Justin Herbert found out he was 60 seconds away from making his first NFL start.

We all knew he got very little warning, ahead of a circumstance caused by a mishap in giving Tyrod Taylor a pain-killing shot. I wasn’t aware he got literally no warning.

“He laughed. He thought I was joking. I said, Justin, I’m not joking. Your ass is the starter right now,” Lynn said, from his office Sunday night.