Jim Harbaugh Praises Chargers' Justin Herbert: 'He's a Crown Jewel' in the NFL

Newly-hired Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh is looking forward to working with his new quarterback.

"Justin Herbert... he's a crown jewel in the National Football League," Harbaugh told reporters during his introductory press conference Thursday.

Harbaugh also named safety Derwin James Jr. and offensive tackle Rashawn Slater as players he was excited to meet.

"They wanna work, can't wait to work, ready to work, and they wanna win," Harbaugh said about the team.

The Chargers signed Harbaugh to a five-year deal weeks after he led the University of Michigan to a national championship.

Harbaugh also praised Herbert in a Sunday appearance on NFL on CBS.

"I met him... and I was a little starstruck, meeting Justin," Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh was a fan of Herbert's even before he was hired in Los Angeles, according to ESPN's Mike Greenberg.

"We were just talking about how great the young quarterback play is in the National Football League," Greenberg said on the Pat McAfee Show in December. "All these great young quarterbacks, Burrow, Mahomes… He spent five minutes telling me that he thinks Justin Herbert is the best of all of them. He loves Herbert."

The excitement goes both ways, according to FOX Sports Radio's Colin Cowherd, who reported that Herbert was "incredibly excited" by Harbaugh's hiring.

Herbert finished the 2023 season with 3,134 yards on a 65.1 completion percentage and 20:7 TD:INT ratio through 13 games.

The Chargers quarterback was on track for his fourth consecutive campaign with more than 4,000 passing yards before undergoing season-ending surgery on his fractured right index finger on Dec. 12.

Without him the Chargers lost four straight games to end the season, missing the playoffs for the third time since selecting Herbert with the sixth pick of the 2020 draft. The quarterback has made just one postseason appearance in a 2022 Wild Card loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Chargers will now hope Harbaugh, who once led the San Francisco 49ers to three straight NFC Championship Games between 2011 and 2013, can help take Herbert on the first deep playoff run of his career.