Remember this as the furious fight to the wild-card finish rages in the AFC:

The Chargers are the only team with Justin Herbert at quarterback.

“He’s a quarterback that could play in any generation,” Hall of Fame Charger LaDainian Tomlinson told Serby Says. “That’s a guy, he would have been fine in the ’80s, the ’90s, certainly in my generation, my decade, he would have been great, fit right in with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and all those guys. Look at the physical traits from the guy — 6-[foot]-5, 235 [pounds], rocket of an arm, smart, athletic.

“Man, who doesn’t want a guy like that?”

Certainly Robert Saleh and the Jets would, and Bill Belichick and the Patriots would, and yes, Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins would, no disrespect intended to Tua Tagovailoa. Brandon Staley never met a fourth-down gamble he didn’t like, and maybe ole “3 yards and a cloud of dust” Woody Hayes would have gotten wild and crazy if he got to coach a Justin Herbert.

“They seem to rally around him, and obviously they believe that any time you have him, you’re gonna have a chance to win,” Tomlinson said. “I think the other thing, I just have seen more of a confidence in knowing that he can put a drive together. He can take the team down and score at any point. You can just see that when he’s playing, the confidence, ’cause he can make any throw.

“And the fact that Mike Williams is back, I think that’s his guy that can make people really afraid of that down-the-field connection that those two have, and then that’ll open up everything else.”

Herbert fighting through fractured rib cartilage the way he did has endeared him further to his team.

“And the thing that I love the most is we haven’t heard much about it, he hasn’t complained about it,” Tomlinson said. “The guy’s such a tough cookie, man. When players see a quarterback going through their stuff and fighting through it just to be out there with his guys, man, you have so much respect for that guy, you want to play for him. You want to play through stuff.”

Running back Austin Ekeler, who is deserving of his first Pro Bowl berth, will vouch for his quarterback.

“He’s a guy that if he can, he will,” Ekeler told Serby Says. “If he can go, he’s going to. Mentality, we’re down in the fourth quarter, he’s gonna give you a chance to come back — mental toughness, physical toughness, all of that. And then his leadership. His leadership’s been growing. I think he’s been getting more comfortable. You’ve gotta remember he’s really young, right? When you’re a young player coming into the league, you gotta figure out how to be a pro and kind of figure out what your role looks like on the team, and so he’s been growing into that over the first three years of his career.

“I would say for me personally, it took me about three years to really feel comfortable as far as speaking, as far as being around the team, and I think he’s right in that cusp of really going over the top as far as his leadership as well. That’ll definitely help him be a better player in the future.”

A scary thought indeed. Herbert’s demolition of the Dolphins last Sunday enabled him to pass Andrew Luck (12,957) with the most passing yards (13,056) in his first three seasons. Both Ekeler and Tomlinson played with Philip Rivers, who one day belongs in Canton.

“He can physically do it but also mentally do it,” Ekeler said. “He’s got a long way to go to catch up to Philip Rivers mentally. So I’ve seen that type of quarterback, and I’ve seen the amount of growth that you can have and him coming in as a rookie. I’ve seen that he’s on a trajectory towards that, but it’s definitely gonna take more time. So up to this point, I would say he’s been living up to the moment.”

Herbert was a rookie the year after Rivers had thrown his last pass as a Charger in 2019. Herbert (31 touchdowns, 10 interceptions) hardly looked like a guy unnerved by following a legend in 2020. This season: 21 TDs, seven INTs. His career: 90 TDs, 32 INTs.

“I don’t know honestly how difficult it was for him,” Tomlinson said. “And the reason why I say that is because have you talked to Justin? Like nothing fazes the guy. I don’t think he’s thought about that one bit. The mindset he has is, I’m coming in here to try to win games, I’m focused on right now, I don’t really think about the past, I don’t really look at the future. What’s in front of me right now, that’s what I’m focused on. I don’t think it affected him one ounce.”

Herbert has navigated a season during which he has been without wide receiver Keenan Allen (hamstring) for a long stretch and lost left tackle Rashawn Slater (biceps tendon) in Week 3. Allen and Williams (high ankle sprain) made it through an entire game healthy for just the second time this season against the Dolphins.

But the Chargers’ weapons go beyond just Herbert. In Austin Ekeler they also trust.

“The thing about him is he’s so underappreciated,” Tomlinson said. “And people just kind of assume that ’cause he’s s smaller type guy that he’s gonna be easy to bring down and he’s not a tough runner, and it’s quite the opposite. He breaks so many tackles because of his low center of gravity, and the thing about it is you never really get a clean hit on him because he has a way of torquing his body and jump-cutting, jump to the side and avoiding the big hits. He has a great understanding of the passing game.

“Think about how much Justin relied on him whenever Keenan Allen was out, whenever Mike Williams was out. Over the years, I think he’s really grown to understand what he can do in this league and how to actually stay healthy in this league, because he’s been available.”

Ekeler has rushed for 634 yards and eight TDs, and 93 receptions for 623 yards and five TDs. His career: 750-4,446 rushing and 29 TDs, and 375-3,349 receiving and 29 TDs.

“As I was growing up playing different sports, you started to develop a lot of good hand-eye coordination, and then it just carries over into your next sport. I still haven’t stopped working on it,” Ekeler said.

He has the most receptions in NFL history for an undrafted running back.

“It’s kind of a weird feeling where I get that it’s cool to have a lot of catches, but I almost wish I didn’t ’cause I wish those were going downfield to some of our receivers that were injured in the first part of the season,” Ekeler said. “But looking back on my career, I know that’ll be something I’m extremely proud of, being able to catch the ball and be efficient, not just running the ball but catching the ball as well in my career. Whatever’s working best for us. It’s a great feeling to know that Justin can trust me throwing me the ball and get out of harm’s way and I can make it happen for us either way.”

Ekeler didn’t watch NFL games as a boy.

“I think I just really looked up to more so an idea of being able to be your own boss, being able to steer your own ship of your life,” he said.

What he has accomplished as a 5-9, 195-pound afterthought from Western Colorado is inspiring.

“I thought I was gonna be going into the business world and I was gonna start my real estate career,” Ekeler said. “I’m just gonna continue to be me and try to grow and try to do as much as I can, because that’s what gives substance to my life, is me expanding myself and pushing my limit and living in that moment of me pushing my boundary. That’s where I feel like I feel more comfortable is when I have a ton of responsibility put on myself.”

The Chargers suffered a devastating defeat that cost them a playoff berth in the 2021 regular-season finale when Staley called a timeout at a time when the Raiders were willing to settle for a tie that would have gotten both teams in the postseason. A 10-yard Josh Jacobs run and 47-yard Daniel Carlson field goal sent the Chargers home. Everyone has come to understand that Staley will play to win, for better or for worse.

“He’s gonna believe in his players and he’s gonna be aggressive with his beliefs,” Ekeler said. “When it comes down to going for it, when it comes down to our play-calling, he wants to be aggressive with our strengths.”

The 7-6 Chargers are holding out hope safety Derwin James, defensive end Joey Bosa and Slater will return very soon. The schedule is quite forgiving: 7-6 Titans at home, at 4-8-1 Indianapolis, 4-9 Rams at home, at 3-10 Denver.

“Finally, at this point to get so many guys back, I think you’re starting to see the chemistry build,” Tomlinson said, “and they believe that they can put a run together.”

Justin time.