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Patrick Herbert to Join Chargers Practice Squad, Reuniting with Brother Justin

Tight end Patrick Herbert is signing with the Los Angeles Chargers' practice squad, reuniting him with his brother, quarterback Justin Herbert. The move comes after Herbert was waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he reportedly chose the Chargers over other offers.

By Tertius News AI Desk 3 distinct · 3 mastheads · 3 articles Version 2 Coverage Sep 1, 2026 Published 42m ago

Herbert Brothers Reunite in Los Angeles

Tight end Patrick Herbert is set to join the Los Angeles Chargers' practice squad, bringing him onto the same team as his brother, star quarterback Justin Herbert. The news was first reported by Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, as confirmed by multiple outlets.

According to Garafolo, Patrick, who is two years younger than Justin, fielded offers from several teams before ultimately choosing the Chargers. The 25-year-old was waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday and, after clearing waivers, decided to reunite with his brother in Los Angeles.

Path to the NFL

Patrick Herbert's journey to the NFL began in 2025 when he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent. After failing to make the Jaguars' 53-man roster, he spent the entire 2025 season on the practice squad. In January, he signed a reserve/future contract with Jacksonville and spent all of training camp and preseason with the team, recording two catches for 12 yards this preseason. He was waived by Jacksonville on Sunday.

Before his NFL career, Herbert played college football at Oregon, where he recorded 31 catches for 388 yards and four touchdowns in 43 career games with the Ducks. His final season in 2024 saw him haul in 10 receptions for 97 yards.

The brothers overlapped at Oregon during the 2019 season, but Patrick redshirted while Justin led the Ducks to a 12-2 record and was later drafted sixth overall by the Chargers.

Chargers Tight End Room

The Chargers currently have three tight ends on their 53-man roster: David Njoku, Charlie Kolar, and Oronde Gadsden. Patrick Herbert's addition to the practice squad provides the team with another player to develop. He could benefit from learning alongside the existing tight ends as he works to earn a spot on the active roster.

Brother Duos in the NFL

Patrick and Justin are set to become one of several brother duos in the NFL. Other notable pairs include Joey and Nick Bosa, J. and Avieon Terrell, and Josh and Caleb Downs. While Patrick and Justin will have different roles with the Chargers, they will have the opportunity to be around each other throughout the season.

Patrick's arrival marks the next chapter in the Herbert brothers' football story, as they now share an NFL organization.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Heavy.

Framing: Emphasizes the Chargers signing the brother of star quarterback Justin Herbert. — Measured, with a hint of sentimental hope.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC

Facts Included:

TE Patrick Herbert is signing with the Chargers' practice squad, per NFL insider Mike Garafolo.
Patrick Herbert is the brother of star quarterback Justin Herbert.
The Chargers' practice squad can have a maximum of 16 players, with a 17th allowed for a qualifying international player.
Patrick Herbert signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2025.
After failing to make the Jaguars' 53-man roster, Herbert spent the entire 2025 season on the practice squad.
In 2026, Herbert signed a reserve/future contract with Jacksonville and spent all of training camp and preseason with the team.
He was waived by Jacksonville on Sunday.
After clearing waivers, Herbert chose to join the Chargers over other offers.
In college at Oregon, Herbert recorded 31 catches for 388 yards and four touchdowns in three seasons.
The Chargers have three tight ends on their 53-man roster: David Njoku, Charlie Kolar, and Oronde Gadsden.
Other brother duos in the NFL include Joey and Nick Bosa, J. and Avieon Terrell, and Josh and Caleb Downs.

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Sports Illustrated

Framing: The headline emphasizes Patrick Herbert joining the Chargers and reuniting with his brother. — Positive and celebratory

as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:46 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Patrick Herbert is joining the Los Angeles Chargers practice squad.
Patrick Herbert will reunite with his brother Justin Herbert on the Chargers.
The news was first reported by Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network.
According to Garafolo, Herbert had multiple chances on other practice squads but chose the Chargers.
Patrick Herbert previously played for the Oregon Ducks and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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theScore

Framing: Focus on the report that Patrick Herbert is joining the Chargers, emphasizing the brotherly connection to Justin. — The tone is informational and neutral, presenting the signing as a factual report with background details.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Tight end Patrick Herbert, the brother of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, has signed with Los Angeles' practice squad after being waived Sunday by the Jacksonville Jaguars, reports NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
Patrick, who's two years younger than Justin, fielded offers from multiple teams, according to Garafolo.
The 25-year-old spent last season on the Jaguars' practice squad after going undrafted in 2025 and signed a reserve/future contract with Jacksonville in January.
He had two catches for 12 yards this preseason.
The Chargers lost 35-6 to the Jaguars last November, though Patrick wasn't on the active roster.
Before the game, he said that he didn't think he had ever played opposite Justin.
The brothers overlapped at Oregon during the 2019 season, but Patrick redshirted while Justin led the Ducks to a 12-2 record and was drafted sixth overall by the Chargers.
Patrick recorded 31 catches for 388 yards and four touchdowns in 43 career games with the Ducks, including 10 receptions for 97 yards in his final year in 2024.
Justin threw for 3,727 yards and 26 touchdowns in 16 games in 2024, helping Los Angeles make the playoffs before losing in the wild-card round against the New England Patriots.

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimTight end Patrick Herbert, the brother of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, has signed with Los Angeles' practice squad.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (3 outlets · 3 distinct) via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC, Heavy. as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Sports Illustrated as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:46 AM UTC
ClaimPatrick Herbert was waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC, Heavy. as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC
ClaimPatrick Herbert fielded offers from multiple teams before choosing the Chargers.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (3 outlets · 3 distinct) via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC, Heavy. as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Sports Illustrated as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:46 AM UTC
ClaimPatrick Herbert is the brother of star quarterback Justin Herbert.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (3 outlets · 3 distinct) via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC, Heavy. as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Sports Illustrated as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:46 AM UTC
ClaimPatrick Herbert went undrafted in 2025 and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC, Heavy. as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC
ClaimPatrick Herbert spent last season on the Jaguars' practice squad.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC, Heavy. as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC
ClaimPatrick Herbert signed a reserve/future contract with Jacksonville in January.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC
ClaimPatrick Herbert spent last season on the Jaguars' practice squad after going undrafted in 2025 and signed a reserve/future contract with Jacksonville in January.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC
ClaimPatrick Herbert recorded 31 catches for 388 yards and four touchdowns in 43 career games with the Ducks.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via theScore as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:47 AM UTC, Heavy. as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC
ClaimThe Chargers have three tight ends on their roster: Charlie Kolar, and Oronde Gadsden II. (Note: Heavy article names Charlie Kolar and Darren Fells)	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

3 distinct · 3 mastheads · 3 articles consulted: Heavy., Sports Illustrated, theScore 10 claims extracted Version 2 Written 2026-09-01