Joey Bosa struck an introspective tone Thursday in his first news conference as a member of the Buffalo Bills.
The team’s newest edge rusher is heading into the 10th season of what has been a prolific NFL career. He is aware that the finish line is now much closer than the starting line.
“Time doesn’t slow down for anybody,” Bosa said. “Seasons, especially when you spend them injured, go by in a blink of an eye. Even when you’re healthy, the seasons just go and go and go. As a rookie, it felt like forever. Now it’s gone in a blink of an eye.”
That realization hit Bosa square in the chin last week when he was released by the Los Angeles Chargers, the only team for which he has played. Bosa was the 2016 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after posting 10.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss. He quickly emerged as one of the league’s best edge rushers, making four Pro Bowls in his first six seasons. He set an NFL record with 19 sacks in his first 20 games.
People are also reading…
Injuries, however, have limited him to just 28 games the past three seasons, making his cap hit of $36.25 million unsustainable.
“Getting released this year was eye-opening because you go from being the man of the future, which felt like I was a rookie yesterday almost, and now, I mean, I’m not old news or whatever, but it just happens fast,” he said. “It’s a business. I understand it.”
Part of that business involves quickly moving on, which Bosa did by signing a one-year contract with the Bills for $12.6 million. A week ago at this time, he had no clue that deal would be on the table, but the Bills reached out quickly after he was released, and shared their interest in bringing him to Buffalo.
“I’m ready to experience something different,” Bosa said. “I’m getting old and I’m ready to win and I think this team is primed to do that. I’m just excited to join a winning culture, a football culture and a football town. Experience a little bit of the seasons, mix it up a little bit.”
Bosa played in college at Ohio State, so he’s got experience in a colder climate with a passionate fan base.
“It was stressful making the decision, but when I did make that decision and I just let it sink in a little bit, I really started getting excited,” Bosa said. “Everybody in my family, the more we thought about it, the more we really thought about all the details of this kind of team that we’re going to and living in a new place, it just kept getting more exciting by the moment.”
Bosa has indeed moved quickly. He’s already found a house in Western New York, and got the obligatory welcome text from star quarterback Josh Allen.
“I think we have a chance to do something special and Josh texted me that if we do what we set out to do, we could really be immortalized in this town,” Bosa said. “That’s what it’s all about is winning a championship and that’s, I think, why people are here.”
Bosa Bills
Joey Bosa, right, had a huge game for the Chargers in 2020 during his only visit to Orchard Park to play the Bills. Buffalo News file
Although he’s been in the league for nine years, Bosa has played in Orchard Park just once. It just so happened to be a game he’ll likely never forget. The Chargers lost to the Bills, 27-17, on Nov. 29, 2020, but Bosa had three sacks, nine tackles and six tackles for loss – all single-game career highs.
“Maybe it’s an omen or something,” he said. “Usually when I play the Bills, I played pretty well, so it’s been a couple times, and hopefully I play pretty well on the team as well.”
Bosa comes from a football family. His brother, Nick, is an All-Pro edge rusher for the San Francisco 49ers. Their dad, John, played for the Miami Dolphins in the late 1980s, just before the Bills started their Super Bowl run.
Bosa jokingly referred to playing for the Bills as being in “enemy territory,” but said the opportunity to be teammates with Allen and be coached by Sean McDermott was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“It feels right, it feels like everybody, including the people that just live in Buffalo, are all locked into one goal and it’s about winning,” he said. “It seems like they’ve been really close and I think it’s long overdue to finally get over that hump. Not like I’ve been here grinding to get over that hump, but I think I’d love to be a part of it, maybe a small piece in what can help that and achieve some something that’s bigger than any individual player.”
To do that, Bosa knows he’s going to have to stay healthy. Although he appeared in 14 games last season, he estimated that he was playing at about 60%-70% for a large portion of the season because of a gluteal strain that affected his sciatic nerve, leading to severe pain.
As the season went on, Bosa started to feel better, and by the playoffs, he said he felt like himself. He had one sack and six quarterback pressures in the Chargers’ loss to the Texans in the AFC wild-card round.
“I mean, couldn’t get blocked,” he said. “I was dominating, and I felt great. I was really excited. Sometimes you just get bad luck and things happen, or you make a silly decision, you should have done this. You shouldn’t have done that.
“I’m locked in this year. I just want to do everything I can possibly to stay healthy and to contribute to this team and be a part of winning. I’m running out of time here. It’s going fast. I’m in year 10 already coming up, and I just don’t have that many moments left. So I have to, have to grasp them while I can.”
0 Comments
Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!