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Bills HC Sean McDermott enacts plan to help Joey Bosa stay healthy

Oft-injured DE Joey Bosa certainly comes with risk, something that Buffalo HC Sean McDermott discussed on Sunday at the 2024 NFL Annual Meetings in Palm Beach.
Brian Letscher|
Dec 15, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Joey Bosa (97) warms up prior to the game.
Dec 15, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Joey Bosa (97) warms up prior to the game. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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As the Buffalo Bills look to upgrade their pass rush, general manager Brandon Beane brought in ex-Charger Pro Bowler Joey Bosa, a risky move given Bosa's injury history.

Addressing reporters at the NFL owners meetings on Sunday, head coach Sean McDermott discussed signing Bosa and rallying various support staff around him.

When asked about the risk of signing the oft-injured Bosa, McDermott acknowledged, "Availibility is key" and revealed that he texted strength and conditioning coach, Will Greenburg, and the Director of Performance and Innovation, Joe Collins, among others, shortly after they made the deal for Bosa, making them aware of Bosa's injury history and pushing them all to 'get out in front of it,'

"We've had success before in taking guys, maybe, who had an injury history, perhaps, and have helped them," said McDermott.

Bosa will certainly welcome that help as he seeks to regain the form of his early career when he hit double digit sack numbers five out of seven seasons. Bosa had 10.5 sacks in 2021 but the last three seasons have been mired in injury with Bosa's games, snaps and production plummeting. His pass rush-win-rate dropped to around 13 percent last year. For context, the league leader was the Houston Texans' Danielle Hunter at 26 percent with the 20th ranked rusher, Will McDonald IV, coming in at 16 percent.

Joey Bosa Pro Bowl
Jan 30, 2025; Orlando, FL, USA; AFC linebacker Joey Bosa of the Los Angeles Chargers runs in the relay race during the Pro Bowl Skills Challenge at Nicholson Fieldhouse. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

McDermott also said, however, that a change of scenery can sometimes help revitalize a players' career, "[Bosa's] been in one place for give or take nine years, and sometimes [a change] can bode well for, kind of... re-stoking the competitive fire and the juices," said McDermott.

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Yes, availibility is key for any player on a 53-man NFL roster but especially for an aging edge rusher you're paying $12 million in the hopes that he is healthy late season and into the playoffs to sack Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts.

As McDermott also noted, "The durability piece can somehow rear it's ugly head regardless of what you do."

Joey Bosa
Jan 11, 2025; Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Joey Bosa (97) sacks Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) during the first quarter in an AFC wild card game. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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Brian Letscher
BRIAN LETSCHER

A Michigan native, Brian graduated from the University of Michigan in another century, where he earned a degree in economics and a Rose Bowl Championship ring while playing football for the Wolverines under Head Coach Gary Moeller. Brian went on to coach Division 1A football for several years before becoming a full-time writer and actor while maintaining an unhealthy interest in sports. He is currently developing a scripted television series, THOSE WHO STAY, based on a series of historical fiction articles he wrote about Bo Schembechler's Michigan football program as they struggle to unite and win the championship - which requires beating #1 Ohio State - during the tumultuous civil rights and anti-war movements of 1969.

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