Andrew Buller-Russ
Jerry Tillery spent his first two and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he was teammates with Pro Bowl QB Justin Herbert. On Sunday, the two teammates reunited, only this time as opponents with the Las Vegas Raiders in town for a Week 4 showdown at SoFi Stadium between the two AFC West rivals.
The Raiders are already playing at less than full strength, with Jimmy Garoppolo ruled out before the game began with a concussion. Instead of turning to 15-year NFL vet Brian Hoyer, they surprisingly turned to fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell, who performed very well in preseason action, completing 69.3 percent of his passes.
With both teams entering play today at 1-2, the pressure was already on for both sides.
Perhaps that’s what helped contribute to Tillery’s big mistake with nine minutes left to play in the second quarter with the Chargers leading 10-7 and marching down the field.
Herbert scrambled toward the right sideline, picking up a first down on 2nd-and-6, and Tillery, seeing an opportunity to deliver a crunching blow on the Chargers’ franchise QB, delivered a late hit just after Herbert stepped out of bounds. But it wasn’t a close call. Herbert was firmly out of play.
Here’s the play in question.
Here’s another angle of the scuffle.
Tillery’s hit forced him out of the game after referees determined he deserved to be ejected for his 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.
But that wasn’t all. The Chargers and Raiders also broke out in a fight, with teammates coming to Herbert’s defense after the unnecessary hit.
The Chargers scored another touchdown just three plays later to take a 17-7 lead with seven minutes to play before halftime.
Related: Aaron Rodgers delivers pointed message to teammates in return to New York Jets
