Mike McDaniel: Focus on Justin Herbert's footwork about finding the margins

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert’s preparation for his first season playing for offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel has featured increased focus on his footwork during spring practices.

Herbert said that he has taken that approach because the offense calls for him to get the ball out faster than in past seasons and one of the tweaks has been lining up in the shotgun with his left foot forward rather than his right. On Wednesday, McDaniel said that Herbert’s willingness to embrace new ways of doing things means they can “change things that have been standardized in their game for years and you can do it with reasonable expectations and higher performance.”

McDaniel said that moves like that are about “trying to find the margins” that can push Herbert to a higher plane as a player.

“It wasn’t like I was trying fix something that was like, ‘This is broke,'” McDaniel said, via the team’s website. “We’re looking at a player that is very, very talented and top tier in achievement his whole career. [We want to] try to take him to the next level where he can own certain things and really get the ball to his teammates as fast as possible and help efficiency of the offense.”

Herbert’s numbers over his first six seasons support the idea that his game was not in need of major repairs, but the team hasn’t found the same kind of success in the postseason. Bringing in McDaniel is designed to help on that front and the work to do it is going on well ahead of Week 1.