Notes from Joey Bosa’s Zoom call

Media members met with the new $135 million-dollar man Joey Bosa on Monday and the Big Bear was as chilled and laid-back as you’d come to expect. Even with all that money about to hit his bank account, Bosa showed nothing but even-keeled joy and genuine happiness about his recent extension.

“It was an emotional call,” he said regarding telling his family about his new deal. “There was a lot of screaming. A lot of colorful language.”

Well Joey, you deserve to scream say all the colorful words in the dictionary after what you’ve done for this team these last four years.

Here’s all my notes and thoughts about the subjects discussed during yesterday’s Zoom call.

Notes:

• Bosa admitted that the contract extension came together much sooner than he expected. That was excellent to hear because we all went through his rookie-year holdout and understand that Bosa isn’t going to settle for less than he deserves. It’s also a positive to see that the franchise, itself, has realized how to better handle their new contracts for their best players.

• Bosa had nothing but good things to about the players the Chargers added via the draft or free agency. He mentioned asking the offensive lineman about the additions of Trai Turner and Bryan Bulaga and the position group was simply elated to have those two in the room. Bosa also noted he knows just how good Bulaga is after facing him in 2019 when they beat the Packers. He couldn’t forget the addition of Linval Joseph, which he believes could help take his and Melvin Ingram’s effectiveness to a new level.

• When asked about this season of Hard Knocks, Bosa said he’s super excited because he loves HBO (he’s a big Game of Thrones fan). He did say he will have to watch his language a bit but I’m sure fans won’t mind if he were to drop a few “bleeps” while in front of the camera.

• Bosa was unsurprisingly pelted with questions about this defense and the wealth of talent that has been collected on that side of the ball. He couldn’t help but gush about everyone, but one of the names he kept bringing up repeatedly was defensive tackle Justin Jones. Jones is in his third year and has been one of the hardest workers on the team since being drafted back in 2018. He’s re-shaped his body to become much more explosive and the guy is looking phenomenal. For Bosa to make the point to shout him out multiple times is something I think fans can definitely look into.

• Bosa was asked point blank whether or not he believes him and Ingram are the best pass-rushing duo in the NFL. He said that yes, he does believe that. However, if they aren’t, then he firmly believes they’re at least one of the top duos in the league.
• One of my favorite quotes from the call was Bosa stressing how much he wants the outcome of their games to lie heavily on the shoulders of the defense. First, I like that level of confidence. Secondly, I think the 2020 Chargers have a chance to be a surprise playoff contender in the same manner as the 2017 Jaguars, 2018 Bears, or the 2019 Bills. All three teams were carried by an elite defense that made up for a lackluster offense. In all honesty, this offense is far more talented than any of those teams and this defense is just as talented or even more so. It’s not super wild to think this team can see success despite a new quarterback under center.

• Lastly, Bosa echoed a sentiment we’ve all heard at least once or twice since this whole thing started, “The most responsible team is the one that wins.” He’s right. Health and availability always plays the biggest role for the Chargers year-in and year-out. In somewhat astounding news, the Chargers are one of the few teams in the entire league that zero players who have tested positive while also having zero opt-outs for the season. Every single player is healthy and accounted for. Is this just one big sign of destiny? Who knows, but that’s pretty crazy, nonetheless.