Former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei put together an overall solid performance for the Los Angeles Chargers during the team’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night, making a late push in his battle with Trey Lance for the Chargers’ backup QB job behind Justin Herbert.

Uiagalelei completed 11 of 18 passes for 141 yards and delivered a late two-point conversion pass to Evan Svoboda. When he first entered the contest in the waning seconds of the second quarter, Uiagalelei was able to move the offense right away, completing his first two passes for 41 total yards to help set up a 49-yard field goal try that was missed.

The main blemish on his performance was taking three straight sacks late in the fourth quarter, culminating in a lost fumble around midfield with under a minute left to seal the 20-18 loss.

After the game, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked about Uiagalelei’s performance.

“I thought he did some good things,” Harbaugh said. “Excited to look at the tape.”

Lance, meanwhile, didn’t complete either of his two passing attempts Thursday. The sixth-year pro rushed for 22 yards on four carries.

Following Los Angeles’ 41-17 preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 20, Harbaugh stated that the backup quarterback battle between Uiagalelei and Lance was “tight” and that he hadn’t yet decided on the QB2 role behind Herbert.

However, Joaquin Ruiz of the Los Angeles Times noted Uiagalelei was clearly the better quarterback on Thursday night against the Rams, writing that Uiagalelei made his case to be Herbert’s backup and outdueled Lance:

Lance, the incumbent backup quarterback, used his legs well and earned 22 yards on four rushes. Uiagalelei, however, looked like he could become the Chargers’ new backup signal-caller.

Uiagalelei made some nice, quick reads and completed 11 of 18 passes for 141 yards. He lost a fumble to seal the loss, though, after being strip-sacked by Rams outside linebacker Darryl Peterson.

“I felt solid out there,” Uiagalelei said. “I mean, I wish we would’ve won, man. … I’m pretty frustrated, pretty upset. … Just tough to go out like that on a fumble.”

Lance, who’s more familiar with McDaniel’s system from their shared time in San Francisco, looked rushed on most of his snaps and didn’t connect on his two throws, one of which was a drop by Derius Davis.

There hasn’t been much separation between Lance and Uiagalelei throughout training camp, but the St. John Bosco product was better on Thursday.

Gavino Borquez of Chargers Wire also weighed in on the backup QB competition ahead of the NFL’s cutdown deadline (6 p.m. Sunday), where teams have to reduce their rosters from 90 to 53 players:

The Chargers’ front office and coaching staff face a tight deadline to reduce their roster to 53 players. With Uiagalelei outperforming Lance in the finale, the tape review will determine if he has officially usurped the QB2 position.

However, there is a possibility that Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz will resort to an external option to solve their backup quarterback dilemma if they conclude that neither Uiagalelei nor Lance can reliably win an NFL game if Herbert went down.

Uiagalelei spent three years at Clemson from 2020-22 before transferring to play at Oregon State in 2023. The former five-star prospect from California then transferred to Florida State for his final college campaign in 2024.

After going unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft, Uiagalelei signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Chargers in April 2025.

Uiagalelei was waived in late August of last year as part of final roster cuts, but re-signed with the Chargers’ practice squad the next day. Then, this past January, he signed a reserve/future contract with the team.

Uiagalelei did not appear in any games for the Chargers last season. He spent the entirety of his rookie campaign on the Chargers’ practice squad and was elevated to the active roster for the team’s Week 18 game against the Denver Broncos to back up Lance, but Uiagalelei didn’t get into the contest.

Uiagalelei completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 5,681 yards with 36 touchdowns and 17 interceptions over 36 games (28 starts) for the Tigers from 2020-22, while also rushing for 913 yards and 15 touchdowns on 275 career carries. He went 22-6 as a starter for the Tigers, but ultimately lost the starting QB job to Cade Klubnik during the 2022 ACC Championship Game before transferring to Oregon State.

For Oregon State in 2023, Uiagalelei completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 2,638 yards and 21 touchdowns with seven interceptions across 12 games. For FSU the following season, he completed 53.8 percent of his passes for 1,065 yards and four touchdowns with six interceptions in five games before missing the remainder of the season due to a broken finger on his throwing hand.

In his five-year college career, the 6-foot-4, 252-pounder posted a 58.5 completion percentage and 9,384 passing yards with 61 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions. He also rushed for 1,124 yards and 21 scores on 380 career carries.