Chargers Injury Report: Joey Bosa Upgraded For LA Practice

The four-time Pro Bowler is dealing with a foot injury.

With your Los Angeles Chargers' 2023 NFL season now effectively over (the team is 5-10 and has been officially eliminated from playoff contention), four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Joey Bosa was a surprising name to see on today's injury report, via Eric Smith of Chargers.com.

Bosa has been on the team's injured reserve list since spraining his right foot in late November, during the team's 23-20 defeat against the Green Bay Packers. He's missed LA's subsequent five games.

Across his nine games with the Chargers this season, the 28-year-old former Ohio State University Buckeye has logged 20 total tackles (14 solo, six assisted), 6.5 sacks, 1.5 stuffs, one forced fumble, one recovered fumble. The 6'5", 280-pound linebacker has been on injured reserve for weeks, but according to his listing today, it appears Los Angeles expects him to return.

This writer is not quite sure what the point of a Bosa return at this juncture in the year would be. This is one of the Bolts' best defenders, and there's no sense in his playing through an injury when the games are fundamentally meaningless. The Chargers are jockeying for draft positioning, and sport one of the most porous defenses in the league. Adding back someone as good as Bosa could help them inadvertently win one of these two last games -- and that would hurt their draft standing.