If there was any doubt about Justin Herbert’s influence in the Los Angeles Chargers’ locker room, he put that to rest in Thursday’s 34-27 comeback win over the Denver Broncos.

“We would follow him to the depths of hell,” offensive guard Trey Pipkins III said, according to Daniel Popper of The Athletic. “We would literally follow him anywhere and risk our lives for this man.”

Pipkins added that Herbert “got sick” against Denver and was a “damn animal.”

Herbert’s latest stats are good, but not necessarily exceptional. He finished 23 of 31 for 284 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

But the 2021 Pro Bowler’s second-half performance was one that justified all the hype that has accompanied him since the start of his NFL career. The Chargers scored 21 unanswered points in one pass as the Broncos defense had no answer to slow LA.

The plays Herbert ran were also what you would expect from an elite signal-caller. On his 19-yard touchdown pass to Derius Davis early in the fourth quarter, he moved left while floating the ball over the top to his receiver.

The 26-year-old is still battling a nagging ankle injury. However, that didn’t stop him from rushing for 28 yards on eight carries.

Chargers offensive tackle Rashawn Slater called Herbert “the ultimate competitor,” according to Popper.

“He elevates everyone around him just by the way he goes about his business, by the fire he plays with,” Slater said. “He’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

A prevailing narrative surrounding Herbert is that his stats drive up his actual value. Certainly a quarterback with that reputation would have had more than one playoff start in his first four years.

The counter to that argument is that the Chargers’ problems on the field went far beyond the performance of their starting quarterback.

Herbert’s 216.2 passing yards per game is on pace to reach a career low. Should Los Angeles clinch a ticket to the postseason — it sits sixth in the AFC at 9-6 — it will still likely begin to win over some of its longtime skeptics.