Joey Bosa opens up about return from injury

Joey Bosa made himself available to the media for roughly 12 minutes as reporters asked a flurry of questions, hoping to gain some sort of new information about the defensive end’s timetable for returning to the field or, really, anything they can put on paper for the readers. Ricky Henne over at Chargers.com, had the scoop.

Luckily for them, Bosa was happy to chat.

Here are the main takeaways from those 12 minutes:

Bosa is as confident as ever about his recovery, in general, not just his potential return date.

After a slow progression that included literally just walking on the field, he was finally able to run around in cleats this past Monday.

“You have to walk before you run. I know it’s kind of silly, but it’s kind of how it goes. It’s simple walking,” he said. “Toe walks. Heel walks. Rising up on my toes. It’s just been a very slow progression.”

As far as the activities he was able to participate in, he was all smiles when reciting his workout.

“I actually got in some three-point stances. I’ve been running straight ahead. The fastest times I’ve run yet. I’m feeling good. Straight ahead is really good right now.”

Bosa now understands that he will feel some soreness and discomfort. This is normal and is not directly tied to a setback of his injury.

“I’m going to have discomfort and I’m going to have pain, but you need to differentiate between actual shooting pain in my foot and some soreness and discomfort. Since we’ve gotten that message, we’ve felt OK with progressing forward and pushing it a bit. And now we’re here and it’s getting better every single day now. … Ever since I got that message, it’s been actually a fun progression now where I’ve been coming out and moving forward every single day.”

I don’t know about you guys, but this actually eases my mind a bit even though we aren’t getting much in terms of a timetable for his return. Most fan’s frustrations have been from lack of knowledge and understanding. With Bosa opening up this much about his mindset and the facts surrounding his rehab, fans should rest easier knowing they are now “in the know” as much as they can be.

Through all the frustration of standing on the sidelines, Bosa has finally broken through and now stands extremely optimistic

“Every time I watch another d-end I’m like, ‘Shoot, I wish I could be playing.’ I had such a great offseason. I was so set to have a great year and all that. You could look back at it. But right now, I’m just pumped to actually be progressing. If you asked me a little while back I would not be optimistic like this.”

It’s nice to hear Bosa delve into all of his feelings about the current situation instead of rambling off what he thinks he should say or a given statement by the team. He’s always been himself, as weird as that may be most of the time.

He is getting the opportunity to rehab with his younger brother, Nick, who has recently left Ohio State in favor of preparing for the NFL Draft. Having his brother around is likely doing wonders for his positivity and mindset and I know that makes me feel more optimistic for the long run.