Rams' Quentin Lake texted apology to Chargers Justin Herbert for ham-handed 'deli meat' comment

Chuck Schilken and Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times on Nov 6, 2026

Published in Football

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LOS ANGELES — Rams safety Quentin Lake says he texted Justin Herbert to apologize for comments he made about the Chargers quarterback on a podcast earlier this week.

So far, Lake said Friday afternoon, he hasn’t heard back.

“I don’t know if he read it,” Lake told The Los Angeles Times. “He probably says, ‘I don’t care about it anymore. I’m not trying to see this. It doesn’t matter. You said what you said.’ But at the same time I … felt like it was right for me to at least say,’ Hey, man, I didn’t mean it in any disrespectful way.’ ”

Lake and teammate Trent McDuffie each intercepted a pass thrown by Herbert during the Rams’ 24-9 victory over the Chargers on Sunday. During an appearance on the “St. Brown Podcast” this week, Lake mentioned that Herbert “was throwing deli meat” and “seeing ghosts” during the game.

The comments left Lake and the two hosts — Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother, former NFL receiver Equanimeous St. Brown — in stitches.

After his quotes went viral, however, Lake was left with a bad taste in his mouth.

“You know, I was with my boys,” said Lake, who played high school football with Amon-Ra St. Brown at Mater Dei. “I was in a comfortable environment. I was trying to say stuff funny. But looking back on it, they have a big platform. And when you say stuff like that, people are going to take it in ways that you may not mean it. ... In no way shape or form was it supposed to be disrespectful.”

The Chargers are 0-7 this season, and Herbert is seen as a key contributing factor. A two-time Pro Bowl selection who is just two seasons removed from throwing for 23 touchdowns and three interceptions over 17 games, Herbert has only five touchdowns and a league-high 10 interceptions this year. He ranks 31st in QB rating among passers with at least 100 attempts.

But Lake said he thinks Herbert is “still a great quarterback,” citing the seventh-year player’s arm strength, running skills and processing ability.

“Obviously there’s some things going on over there that they probably want to fix and probably want to polish up,” Lake said. “You look at their roster from top to bottom, [they’re] still very, very talented, him included.”