Chargers’ Khalil Mack Paid a Tax, and Now He’s Ready for a ‘Special’ Year

The linebacker helped keep the Los Angeles defense afloat in 2022, especially after Joey Bosa was injured. Going into his 10th season, Mack’s back for more.

For a minute there, it looked like the shared vision of the Chargers and Khalil Mack for 2022 was about to play out in a very, very big way.

Set opposite Joey Bosa, easily the best bookend Mack has ever had, the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year registered three sacks in the opener against the team that drafted him. What’s more, it was back-to-back sacks from him and Bosa that closed the Raiders out. It was, as those guys saw it, just the beginning. Or so they thought.

“It was like a high. Man, it’s going to be like this? This could be a 20-sack year,” Mack said, sitting at a picnic table after an early August practice. “We were rolling, getting everything we wanted. Run game, pass game, three sacks. I’m like, Oh man, you could take a deep breath. Going into the K.C. game, rough game for us, but still had them where we wanted them. It was kind of one of those things where you’re building.”

And then, they weren’t. Bosa tore a groin muscle the next week against the Jaguars. Mack remembers thinking, Holy s---- …. I have to do this by myself. Everything after that was different, for sure.

Ten months later, no one on the Chargers’ roster would say it was better, in a good way. It wasn’t. Losing a player like Bosa can’t be, not for Mack, and not for the team. But if there was a silver lining that the Chargers could take from it, it was that everyone got to see how Mack, in his ninth NFL season, would handle such an adverse situation.

Mack had only four sacks in the 14 (and three-quarters) games after Bosa was injured. He fought through chips and double teams and protection sliding to him over that time, with offenses not needing to worry as much about anyone else making them pay for it. And, over time, Mack opened up chances for others simply by not taking his foot off the gas, or letting any opponent think it could back off in sending the cavalry after him.

Most of all, he was selfless, in seeing the bigger picture of what he was bringing to his team.

Mack was selected to the Pro Bowl for the seventh time in his career in 2022 :: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

He had to be, because every game plan was engineered for him, whether it was in the pass protection game or run game,” coach Brandon Staley says. “When you lose a guy like Joey, then you have to pace yourself a little bit too. It happened to Von [Miller]. When I coached Von in 2019 and Bradley [Chubb] got hurt, I saw the same thing happen. You just know, O.K., all the attention is going his way, and there’s just a real tax to that. …

“He had an incredible year, but because of the amount of attention, you didn’t see that splash year that I think he was capable of, that he was headed towards. But what he did was, from a leadership standpoint, when we played that great defense down the stretch, he’s the one that willed us there. … I think we’ll look back on it and say, Man, the impact that Khalil Mack had on this football team, really getting it to go this way, he’ll be looked at within this franchise as one of the guys that really changed the course of it.”

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And that’s because of what Mack meant, as a tone-setting veteran, to the younger guys on Staley’s roster—“he’s been just fantastic for the whole group”—and what he could mean going forward, with Bosa back and healthy, and hopes high within the organization for the year ahead.

With that as the backdrop, we got the chance to catch up on a bunch of things with Mack last week. Here’s more of our conversation.

Sports Illustrated: How are you trying to take care of yourself differently?

Khalil Mack: It’s night and day. You’re talking about three times a week, massages, needling, stretching, even just from stress level, frame of mind, when I get home, there’s a home environment and life, having my wife. All that’s new. It’s getting in that groove and settling in and not doing too much. I used to be on the go, doing this and that in between what I had going on already. It’s just nice to be in the space that I’m in.

SI: How did losing Joey change things for you last year?

KM: You understand that it was no longer Joey and Khalil that teams worry about. The focus on the edge was solely on me. Just to take that on, I remember talking to Giff Smith, the position coach, and he’s like I know you feel like you have to carry everything, but don’t feel like you have to carry everything. Just make sure you’re you on Sundays. I did everything in my power to make sure I was myself on Sundays. … I just had to move a lot smarter and use that wisdom that Coach Staley was talking about.

SI: Brandon said there was a tax you paid with the attention you got after Joey was hurt …

KM: That thought process alone, it was like, Damn, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought when we first started. It definitely took a toll because your body’s still getting used to it. I had to get back used to football coming off of that injury from the previous year. It was a lot of taxing things that was happening body-wise, I carried a little lighter. I’m back to my normal weight. I was at 255 [pounds]. Some weeks I’d come in 252, 250. Now I’m at 265 to 268. That’s my normal weight. That’s where I feel the most comfortable, the most explosive.

SI: Was there a point where last year felt hard?

KM: [After] that Raiders game, against Kansas City was like, Damn, I didn’t really know if I could play. Talk about sore; it was a different type of sore coming in from that Raiders game. It was like, Damn, not used to feeling like this the second week. It was new. Just kind of grinding that whole process out and trying to take care of my body to where I could keep going throughout the year, 17 games, playoff game was hard. This year, just understanding that and having the whole offseason, it’s going to be fun.

SI: Have you lost anything from your prime?

KM: No, if anything it’s just staying healthy, understanding that teams are going to scheme against the outside guy and just preparing for that as well as making sure everybody’s bringing everybody else along. It was not just me solely acting by myself. It was 10 other guys. … We’re trying to get everybody together so that we can bring that fist together in one punch.

Mack has only played in less than 16 games twice across his nine years in the league.  :: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

SI: Is the standard rising here?

KM: Absolutely. It’s rubbing off. We see it every day, especially in our room. Chris [Rumph II] and Tuli [Tuipulotu], the two main [backups]. We’re playing at a high level. Whenever we need a breather, or Joey and I need a breather, there’s no letup in these tackles, either. That’s understood. The standard is the standard, and you can’t hop off from there.

SI: How do you feel about people not talking about you much?

KM: I love it. I use anything to fuel me.

SI: Do you think people have forgotten about you?

KM: I hope so. This year’s going to be fun.

SI: Maybe one of your best years?

KM: Absolutely. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be special.

SI: How good can you and Joey be together?

KM: It could be a special year. It could be a very special year. Like I said, defensive line, if everything goes as planned, it can be a special year.

SI: What individual career goals do you have left?

KM: A goal of mine: I have to touch 100 sacks, at least. If I can do it this year, that’ll be my goal. Get 10, at least touch 100.

SI: How about the Hall of Fame?

KM: That’s always been at the forefront of my mind. I’ve been in huddles with Charles Woodson. You understand that level of greatness. You see it every day, and you try to apply it to your game and your lifestyle. The plan is there to be the best.

SI: Do you see other guys here who could reach that level?

KM: Absolutely. You see sparks over there. It’s all about consistency. That’s what I’m trying to bring to this team, make sure they know I’m bringing my lunch pail every day to the practice field.

SI: It sounds like you still love it …

KM: Absolutely. I thought seeing Wood [Woodson] was crazy, 18 years. But I see why he did it for so long. He loves the game. It’s a blessing.

SI: Have you thought about how much time you have left?

KM: I used to, but I got hurt the year before last and got to make up for it.

SI: What was the plan before?

KM: It was going to be 10, and I was going to be done, but I still look a little fast and athletic out there, so who knows?