EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Leave it to Jim Harbaugh to spin it half-full when pondering the matter of conducting his first Los Angeles Chargers training camp with star quarterback Justin Herbert sidelined by a foot injury.

Herbert, rehabbing a plantar fascia injury in his right foot, is expected to be ready for the regular-season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 8, but for now he’s still in a walking boot. Sure, worse setbacks can be imagined for a franchise banking on a revival as Harbaugh comes back to the NFL on the heels of leading Michigan to a controversy-filled national championship. Yet with a new system being installed, an assortment of new weapons and rhythm needing to be established, the early blow of not having the team’s best player completely in the flow is hardly ideal. Herbert, projected to miss two to four weeks when the injury was revealed on Aug. 1, is missing out on valuable reps.

“Not all work is being done on the practice field,” Harbaugh told USA TODAY Sports following a camp practice last week. “That’s really a small part of the day. Significant. Very significant. But there’s much being done in terms of mental reps, film work, building a rapport…

“Justin’s really grown to a place in his career where he’s not just leading the offense. It’s team-wide. He’s been incredible at it the entire time. I can go back to mid-April. He’s got a tremendous grasp on the offense.”

Of course, typical Harbaugh, it would be difficult to detect if he’s worried. There’s no vibe of panic or pity. After all, managing injuries – and the mindset when they strike – is inherent to the job. Teams have made playoff runs with backup quarterbacks, and at least a couple have even won Super Bowls with such predicaments.

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But still. Herbert, a fifth-year pro, is the one who passed for more yards in his first three seasons than anyone in NFL history. Teaming that talent with Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback, has dynamic potential. The threat of a setback has to be sobering.

“Even with the preference that he was able to practice, he’s not,” Harbaugh said. “So, let’s not think about that. Let’s think about all the things we can do. And he’s into anything and everything to get himself ready for that opening day.”

Harbaugh wouldn’t address the NCAA discipline levied last week, which effectively prohibits him from coaching on the college level for four years due to recruiting violations. The NFL, meanwhile, hasn’t definitively stated whether it will review Harbaugh’s case. And the prospect of NFL discipline certainly didn’t deter teams from pursuing Harbaugh as a hot commodity on the coaching market.

In any event, the pressing matter of the moment involves his quarterback. A key marker of progress could come this week if Herbert gets out of the walking boot. When the Chargers announced the injury, they expected he could be in the boot for approximately two weeks, then continue with a return-to-play protocol upon receiving clearance from doctors. On Monday, he was still in the boot, and Harbaugh told reporters that there was no update. The past two weeks, in addition to the behind-the-scenes work that Harbaugh alluded to, Herbert has been on the field during practices as an observer and worked in the weight room..

Then there are contingency plans. Herbert’s injury has meant first-team reps for Easton Stick, who was next-man-up last season when Herbert missed the final four games due to a fractured finger and went 0-4 as the sub starter. Now it’s fair to question how comfortable Harbaugh and coordinator Greg Roman would be if Stick, a sixth-year pro, is called on again for such extensive duty.

The Chargers’ preseason-opening loss against the Seahawks on Saturday may have added consternation. With Stick under center, the Chargers didn’t make a first down on any of their first six drives. Stick finished 5-of-13 for 31 yards with an interception and 14.6 passer rating.

Asked last week if there was a legitimate competition for the No. 2 job behind Herbert, Harbaugh didn’t dismiss it. Following last week’s signing of Luis Perez (who led the UFL in passing last season and before that led the Arlington Renegades to the XFL title), the Chargers currently stand with four quarterbacks on the roster.

“Yeah, I want to do that for Easton, for the team,” Harbaugh said. “Competition brings out the best in people.”

And that includes Harbaugh, with his track record of winning wherever he’s coached. He’s determined to build a physical team, supporting a healthy Herbert with a smashmouth rushing attack that includes the 1-2 punch of former Ravens running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards and has added first-round tackle Joe Alt. But the wide receiver corps has been overhauled following the departures of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.

The defense, meanwhile, ranked 28th in the NFL for yards allowed last season and is now coordinated by Jesse Minter, who followed Harbaugh from Michigan. The strength comes with arguably the NFL’s best set of edge rushers in Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa, fortified by free-agent signee Bud Dupree and backed by a secondary led by star safety Derwin James.

Still, the task of turning around a team that finished 5-12 in 2023 includes competing in a division owned by the Chiefs, who have won back-to-back Super Bowls and eight consecutive AFC West titles.

It might be a bit much to expect Harbaugh’s team to emerge as an instant playoff contender.

“I have a keen awareness of the division we’re playing in and who we’re playing against,” said Harbaugh, who led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl during his previous NFL coaching stint. “The expectation is to be better today than we were yesterday, and to be better today than we were today.”

Harbaugh talks up the effort.

“If it goes good, it’s because of their willingness to put in the work,” he said. “If it goes bad, then I’m a bad manager.”

Yeah, but is this a playoff team?

Harbaugh, whose brother John leads an AFC contender with the Baltimore Ravens, was in no mood to bite or supply bulletin-board declarations.

“Let’s put it in the words of Jackie Harbaugh,” he said. “The best advice I’ve ever heard comes from my mother: One play at a time. One game at a time. One day at a time.”

And surely, one big challenge at time, like dealing with Herbert’s absence.

“And that’s up to all of us,” Harbaugh said. “The challenges are daily, you know. That’s what all these guys are in the business of doing. Meeting challenges. What’s next? That’s the nature of this business.”

Which could come with the reality check of ugly alternatives.

It’s never easy replacing a championship coach. It’s harder still to replace a championship coach who leaves a complicated legacy. And when that coach leaves during NCAA investigations, as Jim Harbaugh did last winter? 

Welcome to Sherrone Moore’s world.  

Then again, Michigan football’s first-year head coach knew the world he was stepping into. Mostly because he spent the last six years on Harbaugh’s staff. 

Still, to watch Moore answer almost as many questions about rule-breaking and optics as he did about football Tuesday afternoon inside Michigan’s football complex was to watch a coach with a lot to navigate, most notably his predecessor’s long and messy shadow. 

An old saying in coaching is that it’s better to replace the coach who replaces the legend than to replace the legend. But then it’s hard to say no when a program like Michigan offers to hand over the keys to its team, no matter the timing. 

In other words, Moore must balance keeping the best parts of the culture Harbaugh built within the locker room and on the field: player development, strategic adaptability, selflessness, and competitive spirit, while making sure everyone understands and follows the rules that govern Division 1 college football.  

This includes himself; Moore served a one-game, school-imposed suspension in last year’s season-opener for his role in Level II recruiting violations during the NCAA-mandated COVID-19 recruiting dead period in 2021. He could face another suspension this season, according to reports that suggest he deleted texts related to Connor Stalions; those texts were eventually retrieved and turned over to the NCAA.

Moore said Tuesday that he and the university are cooperating with the NCAA’s investigation into alleged signal stealing. He also said ‘I look forward to (the texts) being released. That’s it.’

A former Michigan recruiter told NCAA investigators that Harbaugh’s culture was to push up against the line and then sometimes push past it. Harbaugh, of course, denies that he ever intentionally broke recruiting rules.

‘I do not apologize,’ Harbaugh told reporters at the Los Angeles Chargers’ headquarters last week.

As for the culture the former staffer questioned? 

Moore said he couldn’t control what others said about the program. He also said this: 

‘When you’re at the bottom they don’t respect you. When you’re in the middle, they ignore you, when you’re at the top they hate you. So, for us, we’re just going to keep rolling.’ 

The hater angle is, of course, tiresome. Yes, plenty of college football fans “hate” Michigan football. And plenty of folks in this state, football fans or not, bristle at the “leaders and best” dogma that emanates from the campus … or from those who’ve spent time on the campus. 

In many ways, especially locally, Michigan is an easy target, though a phenomenon the school has helped along, obviously. But the “hate” isn’t just because the Wolverines won the title last season. And Moore knows that.  

It’s because of the occasional piousness Harbaugh presented, the perceived hypocrisy. Wagging a finger at other “cheaters” while not keeping his own house in order.   

Here’s betting university president Santa Ono and athletic director Warde Manuel don’t much care if Moore holds himself on high the way his former boss did. And here’s guessing they don’t much care if Moore – like Harbaugh – makes the school easier to ridicule for rival fans.  

What they do – and should – care about is that Moore follows the rules and keeps the NCAA out of Ann Arbor. Sure, some minor infractions are going to happen. And if they do, Ono and Manuel could help Moore by encouraging him to self-report like so many other programs do.  

It will also help Moore if the university shows a bit more transparency. For example, it turns out Harbaugh isn’t coming back for the season opener. He may one day serve as an honorary captain, just not when the Wolverines take the field against Fresno State in late August.   

Harbaugh, according to a Free Press report, decided his current team needs him more, and he’ll be staying in California to give the Los Angeles Chargers his full attention. As coaching decisions go, that’s probably a smart one, the Chargers need help. 

As public relations decisions go, that’s probably even smarter, though Harbaugh insisted – at least according to Moore – that his choice was all about football. 

Maybe it was.  

But whether it was, asking Moore to announce the news as he did Tuesday during his news conference wasn’t fair to Moore. The university has an athletic director, a sports communications office, a president’s office, and any of them could’ve released a simple news statement.  

Yes, Moore may still have been asked about it. But he wouldn’t have been responsible for breaking the news. He’s got plenty else to worry about.  

You can debate the merits of both cases and howl at the NCAA all you want, but this was indisputably Harbaugh’s program when both violations happened. To bring him back to Michigan Stadium so soon was a bad look. The school knew it. Harbaugh had to have known it.  

Good for him for backing off. Moore’s job is complicated enough.  

‘Yesterday he called me and told me he didn’t feel he could leave his team, in true coach Harbaugh fashion, and wanted to be in the fox hole with his team, not make it look like he’s taking a deep long bow,’ Moore said. ‘So, he’s not going to make it for the game, but we will have some of our (former players) guys who will be there and then Jack and Jackie Harbaugh are going to take his place, so super excited about that.” 

No doubt he’s excited. He should be. He’s got one of the best jobs in college football, and a roster with some future pros.  

Again, it’s not easy replacing a championship-winning coach. It’s even harder to clean up their mess. The easiest way to sweep up is, of course, to win. But winning should no longer be enough in Ann Arbor. 

Harbaugh won. Yet so much of the college football world outside the state thinks he won while breaking the rules.  

Moore’s job is to win, too, yes. It’s also to win in a way that helps recalibrate the perception of the program. The games start in a couple of weeks.  

Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him@shawnwindsor.

Add this to the comedy of errors that have plagued the Olympic gymnastics bronze medal controversy over the past week: 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport did not reach out to the right U.S. officials as CAS prepared for last week’s Romanian appeal of Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal, a person with knowledge of the situation who did not want to be identified told USA TODAY Sports Monday. 

CAS was supposed to notify both sides, the United States and Romania, but ended up contacting the wrong U.S. officials. It is unknown if that mistake by CAS was a contributing factor to CAS’ ruling against Chiles, but the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee did say this in its statement Sunday:

“…There were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed. The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision. 

“As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively. Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to ensure that Jordan Chiles receives the recognition she deserves. We remain dedicated to supporting her as an Olympic champion and will continue to work diligently to resolve this matter swiftly and fairly.”

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CHICAGO — Three times on Tuesday night, Juan Soto sent baseballs flying out of Guaranteed Rate Field.

Soto delivered his first career three-homer game, solely providing the New York Yankees with a four-run lead against the woeful Chicago White Sox.

‘It’s really fun, definitely cool to see it,” Soto said of his eventful evening. ‘Even better to get the win out of it.”

Surviving a nervous ninth inning, Jake Cousins bailed out a tired Yankees bullpen, stranding the bases loaded for his first career save.

That validated Nestor Cortes’ seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts (zero walks, three hits), marking the lefty’s best effort in over a month.

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‘Felt like something clicked for me,” said Cortes.

How Juan Soto got back in the groove

Soto had a shot at a fourth homer in the Yankees’ half of the ninth but settled for a walk after hacking at a 3-0 delivery.

‘I tried my best,” said Soto, who found a new way to impress Aaron Judge.

After grounding out in his first at-bat, Soto took about 20 dry swings near the dugout – as witnessed by the Yankees’ captain.

Following Soto’s second homer, ‘I was kind of joking with him…’That’s all it takes, a couple dry swings and you hit a couple homers?’ ” said Judge. ‘And he did it a third time.”

Asked about that dry swing remedy, Soto answered matter-of-factly.

White Sox right-handed starter Jonathan Cannon “threw me a pitch I should have hammered, and I just rolled it over,’’ said Soto. “So, I went back to my routine and started thinking’’ how to change that outcome.

In the stretch run of his free agent walk year – with a massive payout awaiting – Soto connected three consecutive times Tuesday, starting with a third-inning, two-run shot to left off Cannon.

Leading off the fifth against Cannon, the lefty-swinging Soto launched one over the left-center field wall.

Soto followed up in the seventh with another solo shot, this time to right off lefty reliever Fraser Ellard, and punctuated with an emphatic flip of the bat.

Batting with a runner at first base and one out in the ninth, with the Yanks ahead by three runs, Soto walked on a 3-1 pitch by lefty Jared Shuster.

Still seeking his 300th career homer, Judge walked twice, singled twice and struck out Tuesday.

On Sunday against Texas, Soto had a two-homer afternoon at Yankee Stadium, so he’s now homered five times in his last three games – covering his last 10 at-bats.

Last month, rookie Ben Rice became the first Yankee to have a three-homer game this season, at home against the Red Sox.

Soto now has 33 homers this season, two shy of his single-season career high established last year with the San Diego Padres.

Batting after his third homer Tuesday, Soto received standing cheers from many of the 21,199 South Side fans – and then head boos, as Shuster ran the count deep before walking him.

The same groans were heard as Judge followed by drawing a walk.

This was a needed offensive boost for the Yanks, who went 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position in Monday night’s series opener, a 12-2 loss to a White Sox club that had lost 24 of their last 25 games.