Justin Herbert’s machine gun audible was somehow the most confusing part of the Chargers’ dreadful loss

The Los Angeles Chargers have barely started their 2023 campaign, and they’re already sitting at a disappointing 0-2. It’s becoming abundantly clear that Brandon Staley shouldn’t have returned, and he seems to understand his seat is getting hotter.

But despite all of this chaos, a weird Justin Herbert audible might have been the most puzzling aspect of the Chargers’ deflating defeat to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Let’s flash forward to the final minutes of the fourth quarter. The Chargers were trying to mount a game-clinching drive and faced a key third-and-long. The CBS cameras captured Herbert using a “machine gun” while screaming out an apparent change in the Chargers’ play call.

I can’t possibly fathom what this is supposed to mean:

What is this audible by Justin Herbert? Wrong answers only pic.twitter.com/70fJFbW6I6

— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) September 17, 2023

I won’t doubt the process of Herbert, a bona fide superstar quarterback who processes the game like a high-tech cyborg. But I really want to hear from whoever put this in the Chargers’ playbook. I don’t think I’ve seen a signal like this before at any level of football.

This was how Twitter reacted to Herbert's weird "machine gun" audible

Bully Herbert https://t.co/4xjXkHfSRC pic.twitter.com/PLnjM9ZIj6

— KJ Neptune (@kjneptune) September 18, 2023

“One of these days” https://t.co/dCsaZ3HMks pic.twitter.com/mCGjGvna6i

— ironheadraider 🇲🇽 (@ironheadr8r) September 18, 2023

Machine Gun Go Brr https://t.co/alIYQfjXHw

— Luke (@Lukewalkrr) September 18, 2023

Call of Duty. https://t.co/SJqg1JRATg

— 🎤🎥🏀🏈 (@LataviusBolden) September 18, 2023

Stanzo fedoras https://t.co/6GySLaq3CY pic.twitter.com/AZbUeKh3tb

— Tommy Lewis’s Burner (@BamaWill06) September 18, 2023

We gettin on Call of Duty? https://t.co/kAeVysNWDS

— Dizzy 🏈⚡️🎮 (@dizzy_huerta) September 18, 2023

“Ok… let’s shoot ourselves in the foot again!”

— ✌️Dru Sol 🏴‍☠️ (@soladventur) September 18, 2023

Check, Elvis, Elvis! pic.twitter.com/Z9bgx10p4U

— JoLo62 (@SportsOnly62) September 18, 2023

Gunner Rivers (future LA Charger) https://t.co/vGItDtjyea

— Jay ⚡️ (@Bolt_Up1904) September 17, 2023