The Los Angeles Rams should not be expected to play any important players during Thursday’s game against the Chargers, other than Ty Simpson, who we already know is not in the team’s plans for 2026. However, on the other team there is an interesting battle brewing on the Chargers as head coach Jim Harbaugh will determine who the team’s backup quarterback will be based on how Trey Lance and D.J. Uiagalelei perform against the Rams.
The Los Angeles Chargers will start Justin Herbert for their preseason
finale against the Los Angeles Rams, but he isn’t expected to play very much. Most of the snaps will go to Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei.
Lance and Uiagalelei are fighting for the backup job behind Herbert, and it very well could come down to how each of them performs against the Rams.
“I think it’s tight,” Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said after the second preseason game regarding the backup quarterback competition. “I don’t have a definitive status on it right now.”
Lance is now five years removed from being the third overall pick in the draft, after the San Francisco 49ers traded three first-round picks (one that year, two in the future) to move up for him. If it wasn’t enough of a sign that Lance was a bad pick based on his career as a starter, consider the fact that he’s now just desperate to become a backup because he hasn’t proven himself over D.J. Uiagalelei!
The former highly-touted high school recruit jumped from Clemson to Oregon State to Florida State during his college career and went undrafted in 2025. He’s not good but a good game against the Rams on Thursday could put him in position to be Herbert’s backup this season instead of Lance.
And that will be the most interesting position battle you’ll see Thursday.
Yes, to some degree Simpson is in a “battle” against Stetson Bennett, but Bennett may not play any snaps on Thursday. Even if Simpson performs poorly, it could just force L.A. to go make one final pitch to Jimmy Garoppolo, rather than being a great sign for Bennett. So that position battle is not quite on display as the one brewing for “the other team” that calls SoFi Stadium their home.
Meanwhile, Sean McVay is inclined to sit every other player expected to make the team. Perhaps he will keep Max Klare and C.J. Daniels out there, but probably not for long. And if Daniels is out there for long, it’s not a great sign for his chances of making the roster. These are unusual circumstances for Klare, as despite being a second-round pick, he’s so far down the depth chart that he won’t factor into the team’s immediate plans.
Instead, the focus could be more on the L.A. Chargers just based on the fact that Harbaugh looks to be using starters and backups in the first half of the game. McVay doesn’t usually do that, so Rams fans may just have to wait until Week 1 to see the big names.
