QB Taylor takes the high road

CAN WE all agree to root for good things to happen to Tyrod Taylor? The 31-year-old quarterback this past week quietly decided not to file a grievance against the Chargers and the team doctor who punctured his lung before his Week 2 game and essentially cost him the 2020 season.

Taylor lost his starting job after a team doctor accidentally punctured his lung while giving him a painkilling injection prior to a game against the Chiefs. The injection was intended to help relieve the pain from two cracked ribs that Taylor suffered in Week 1 against the Bengals.

The scary and bizarre mishap forced Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn to suddenly start rookie firstround draft pick Justin Herbert that day against the Chiefs. At that time, Lynn was resolute in saying the starting job belonged to Taylor as soon as he was healthy enough to play.

“If he’s 100 percent ready to go, he’s our starter,’’ Lynn told reporters on Sept. 20, the day the Chargers lost to 23-20 to the Chiefs and Herbert threw for 311 yards in his NFL debut.

Here’s the problem: With Taylor unfit to play in Week 3, Herbert started again and threw for 330 yards … and it was over. The job was Herbert’s, and Taylor has sat dutifully and quietly on the bench behind him.

Taylor completed 16 of 30 passes for 208 yards, no TDs and no turnovers in the Chargers’ season-opening win in Cincinnati. It was his first start since 2018, when he began the season as the Browns’ quarterback before getting hurt and losing his job to Baker Mayfield.

Prior to that, he led the Bills to a playoff berth in 2017, snapping an 18-year playoff drought for Buffalo. He signed with the Chargers as Philip Rivers’ backup in 2019, and when Rivers left for the Colts, this was going to be Taylor’s chance.

Until the team doctor took the air out of his career.

Herbert, drafted in the first round, of course was eventually going to start for the Chargers. And, based on the fact he’s thrown for 300 or more yards in six of his 10 starts this season, it’s difficult to argue with Lynn staying with the rookie.

The unfortunate side to all of this is how poorly it has affected Taylor, who deserved better.