Chargers Plan to Activate Joey Bosa vs. Rams

Joey Bosa is expected to play Sunday against the Rams.

Nicholas Cothrel | Dec 30, 2022

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COSTA MESA – Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa completed his second practice of the week on Friday after the team designated him to return from injured reserve.

Following the team's final practice in preparation for the Rams, Chargers coach Brandon Staley said the plan is to activate Bosa ahead of Sunday's contest in which he will appear in his first game since Sept. 25.

Bosa, after undergoing surgery to repair both groin muscles, has missed the Chargers' last 12 games. As he works his way back into football shape, Bosa will be eased into action with a snap count restriction in hope of avoiding any setbacks.

“He has to get his football conditioning, just like everybody else," Staley said of the returning Bosa. "It’s not like he is going to go out there and play like he has been playing for three or four months, but he is going to go out there and play."

Bosa shared Thursday that the groin injury that has sidelined him for multiple months wasn't the first time he's felt discomfort in that area, but rather it was a final straw of his groin eventually tearing.

He's dealt with groin issues the past couple seasons, but had pushed through the unsettling feeling to a point where it became normal. Now, as he stands three months removed from the injury that sidelined him, Bosa says the procedure has him feeling better than he has in recent seasons.

"I feel like the last week, I was able to push it really hard – harder than I have in years," Bosa said. "My [agility] times were all very good and I didn't have any setbacks, and that was kind of my mindset going into it – I wanted to get to a point where I could have a couple of really good weeks back-to-back."

“If you observe Joey before practice, you’ll know that he is a guy that needs to get tuned up," Staley said of Bosa's routine. "I think what you’re seeing is a guy that was just really pushing through a lot. It wasn’t anything that was inhibiting his play, as he told you, but these guys go through a lot. It just shows you how tough of a player he really is. What’s been amazing for me to see is just how he feels now."

Bosa's return will reunite a formidable edge rusher pairing of himself and Khalil Mack, a one-two punch that makes the case for the league's best duo.

Mack, in getting his counterpart back from a long anticipated absence, voiced his encouragement for what it will be like to have him lining up along the defensive line together yet again.

"You look at what he's done over the course of his career, it's always fun when you got a guy like that out there on the other side of you," Mack said.

"Not only having him over there as a player, knowing the dynamic player he is, but understanding the energy and the character he brings in those situations and those scenarios when it's a third down and we need a big stop."

When Bosa isn't out on the field, Kyle Van Noy will take the bulk of the snaps off the edge. Van Noy is in the middle of his best stretch of football since joining the Chargers, having logged a sack in each of the last three games.

Additional news on the Chargers injury front includes safety Derwin James, who was placed in the league's concussion protocol following a hit on Colts wide receiver Ashton Dulin last week.

James remains "working his way through" the protocol, Staley said Friday, and has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Rams. He's practiced on a limited basis each of the last two days, but will wait another week before appearing in a game.

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