New Chargers quarterback makes bold statement

When Easton Stick gets the start at quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night, he’ll find himself in an unfamiliar position.

Not only will the Chargers’ matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football mark the 28-year-old’s first career NFL start, but Stick will be under center for a team with a losing record.

“Look, I understand North Dakota State is not the National Football League, but I’m used to winning,” Stick, who amassed a 49-3 record as a starter during his college career, told reporters on Wednesday according to the Los Angeles Times. “I only know one way. This is a production business, and I understand that.”

Stick’s first start for the Chargers comes as the result of Justin Herbert suffering a fractured index finger that will bring an end to his 2023 season. Despite Los Angeles entering the 2023 campaign with lofty expectations, the Chargers enter Thursday night’s primetime matchup with a 5-8 record.

Following a prolific college career in which he was a part of four FCS championship teams and was named the 2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year and an FCS first-team All-American, Los Angeles selected Stick in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. A year later, the Chargers used a first-round pick to select Herbert, who Stick has spent the bulk of his NFL career backing up.

Thursday will mark Stick’s third career NFL game, with his second coming in relief of Herbert after the Oregon product suffered his season-ending injury in a loss against the Denver Broncos last week. In what marked his first regular-season action since the 2020 campaign, Stick completed 13 of his 24 pass attempts for 179 yards.

“Obviously, this isn’t how I envisioned it,” Stick said this week. “When they selected me five years ago, this is what you want as a kid — an opportunity to go play. I’m excited for that.”

[Los Angeles Times]