EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Chargers outdoors linebacker Joey Bosa, who has been sidelined due to an damage since Week 3, mentioned Friday he anticipated to play a restricted position in Sunday’s sport in opposition to the New Orleans Saints.
Bosa, who has been listed with a hip damage, mentioned he has a glute pressure that affected his sciatic nerve and triggered “a few of the worst ache I’ve ever handled.”
Bosa mentioned he started feeling discomfort within the days main as much as the Chargers’ Week 3 sport in opposition to the Steelers, and on the primary snap, his leg gave out, when he was pushed to the bottom by Steelers deal with Broderick Jones.
“I positively did not anticipate it to be as unhealthy because it has been,” Bosa mentioned. “After which it simply stored dragging and dragging. Right here we’re 5 weeks later, or nevertheless lengthy it has been, so it was powerful.”
Bosa was additionally restricted within the Chargers’ Week 2 sport in opposition to the Carolina Panthers due to a again damage. He performed solely 14 snaps however mentioned it was unrelated to the glute pressure.
In his lone wholesome sport of the season, Bosa dominated in Week 1 in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders, ending with 7 tackles, 1 pressured fumble, 1 sack, and 4 quarterback pressures.
“He’s that participant,” coach Jim Harbaugh mentioned after the sport. “Noticed it within the manufacturing, within the tackles, within the hustle. He was nice in opposition to the run and unblockable within the cross; an enormous sport.”
Bosa’s expertise has by no means been a query, however accidents have stored him from displaying it on the sector with consistency. He performed solely 14 video games mixed within the 2022 and 2023 seasons and performed 16 snaps since Week 1 this season.
He additionally sat out three weeks of offseason observe after breaking his left hand in a joint observe with the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 4. Bosa had surgical procedure and practiced with a membership following the damage.
After breaking his hand, Bosa mentioned he hoped the damage bug was behind him, and lacking time with one other damage this yr put him in a “darkish place.”
“I really feel like I have been letting my staff down lacking these video games,” he mentioned. “Letting everyone down, letting coaches down. Letting the group down. Letting myself down and it simply sucks how these years have gone, the previous couple of years.”
“I positively hit a low level coping with this, but it surely’s made me stronger mentally,” Bosa mentioned. “While you’re in it, it feels hopeless typically and like, ‘Man, I do not need to do that.'”
Bosa mentioned the time along with his household and therapist stored him targeted whereas he rehabbed, and he is hoping to return to a full workload after this weekend’s sport and put collectively a number of extra good seasons.
“I believe I’ve a number of years, possibly, hopefully, a number of good years left, and I simply need to do the whole lot I presumably can to reap the benefits of my alternative,” Bosa mentioned.
