Joey Bosa Opens Up About Road Back From Groin Surgery

Joey Bosa details his recovery process following groin surgery.

Author:
Nicholas Cothrel
Publish date:
Dec 29, 2022 8:40 PM EST

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COSTA MESA — For the first time in 14 weeks, Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa took in a practice alongside his teammates on Thursday.

Bosa was designated to return from injured reserve, opening his 21-day practice window in which the team will need to activate him prior to appearing in a game.

"Good to be back out there," Bosa said after the practice session. "Light practice, had a good couple workouts earlier this week. Yesterday I got with [outside linebackers coach] Giff [Smith] and did some individual workouts so feeling confident."

Bosa completed about about 15 live reps on the practice field Thursday – all of which he said felt good during the initial acclimation period of getting back into the swing of things.

Bosa underwent surgery to his groin after tearing the muscle on Sept. 25 in the Chargers' Week 3 game against the Jaguars. But Bosa revealed Thursday while standing at his locker and describing the road back to a healthy version of himself, that this isn't the first time he's felt discomfort in that particular area of his body.

Bosa has been dealing with a groin and core issue for the past few seasons. From compensating for the discomfort felt near the left side of his groin, the injury began to bother both sides, leading to a procedure that fixed his left and right groin altogether.

"It’s kind of revitalizing honestly. This was something that really caused me a lot of pain and kind of stress throughout the last couple years and I’d gotten to a point where I was used to it," Bosa said of the injury. "I didn’t understand how much was really wrong. Obviously it sucks to miss all this time, but it's honestly something that really needed to get done."

This isn't the first time in Bosa's career he's been out for an extended absence. He dealt with a foot injury in 2018, but the four-time Pro-Bowler said his recovery process in this go-around has gone exponentially better.

"When I came back my third year off the foot injury, I felt pretty beat up coming back from that," he added. "I wasn't able to train the way I need to. I kind of just did the bare minimum to get myself back out on the field. I did not feel very good coming back. This time, we're in a great place as a team and I'm feeling better than I have in years, honestly."

Bosa showed signs of relief with the hope that his groin injury he's pushed through in past seasons is now in the rearview. The limitations he's dealt with included how intense he could complete workouts and putting strain on his flexibility. Now, after a full recovery, Bosa feels free in the way he can approach training, which will enable his efforts on the field.

"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."

As the Chargers have clinched a playoff berth, their final two games of the regular season will have postseason seeding implications on the line. Bosa's status for Sunday's game against the Rams at SoFi Stadium remains a wait and see.

"I’m going to take it one day at a time and let the coaches decide on that," Bosa said when asked if he'll play in Week 17. "But yeah, I think I’m feeling really good and I kind of made it a point not to come back until I felt confident in myself in being able to perform in a game."

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