EL SEGUNDO — Coach Jim Harbaugh has heard the talk and read the words and he couldn’t disagree more with the notion that Chargers outside linebacker Joey Bosa’s career is nearing an end because of a string of injuries that have limited his play to only a handful of games over the past few seasons.
Bosa played 20 snaps during his return to the field this past Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. He was not credited with a tackle and appeared to have aggravated a painful hip injury that left him unable to sleep at times after he was hurt in a Sept. 22 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It’s likely that Bosa will be on a similar snap-count limitation when the Chargers play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Bosa’s participation in practice this week was limited and he was listed as questionable to play against the Browns, and if he is to play then it’s likely his participation will be limited.
Harbaugh cautioned against ruling out Bosa, though.
“Could push up, could push up,” Harbaugh said of Bosa’s snap count.
Harbaugh then addressed Bosa’s future without any prompting from reporters.
“Some of the talk, you know, the chatter or whatever, that his best days are behind him, erroneous,” Harbaugh said. “Joey Bosa is an athletic human freak in the best kind of way, at the highest level. Guys like that, their best football is always ahead of them. It doesn’t just stop. It takes a very long time.
“He’s had a good week. Look forward to what’s to come.”
Bosa, a four-time Pro Bowl selection in his ninth season in the NFL, played only nine games last season and five games in 2022 because of injuries. In addition to his hip injury, he also missed most of training camp in August because of a broken hand that required surgery.
Is this the game the Chargers’ wide receiver corps finally looks as it was intended to look way back when it was constructed in the spring? If it doesn’t happen Sunday against the Browns, then it almost certainly will happen when the Chargers play the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 10.
For starters, DJ Chark moved as close to making his Chargers debut as he has all season. His groin injury has improved sufficiently to allow him to practice in full Thursday and Friday and, although he was listed as questionable on the injury report, he was likely to play Sunday.
“He’s been having a good week,” Harbaugh said of Chark, a veteran of 69 games over six seasons in the NFL before signing with the Chargers during the offseason, before declining to expand on the likelihood of Chark’s availability against the Browns on Sunday in Cleveland.
In addition to Chark, the Chargers are expected to welcome wide receivers Derius Davis (hamstring) and Quentin Johnston (ankle) and tight ends Will Dissly (shoulder) and Hayden Hurst (groin) back to the lineup Sunday after they were full participants in practice Friday.
“Very good week in that regard,” Harbaugh said. “Looking good. Good week.”
No question, a healthy group of pass catchers will aid quarterback Justin Herbert, who is coming off his two most productive games of the season. He threw for two touchdowns in Sunday’s victory over the Saints and set a season best with 349 yards in a loss Oct. 21 to the Arizona Cardinals.
Herbert has regained his mobility after several weeks of nursing a badly sprained right ankle. As he has regained his strength, the Chargers’ coaching staff has opened the playbook, giving him more options to pass on the move and also to scramble for sizable gains, if given the chance.
“I don’t think people understand the extent of what he was dealing with physically in the beginning part of the year,” Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said earlier this week. “We really had to modify a tremendous amount of what we were doing to accommodate the situation.”
