ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Joey Bosa placed his jersey and pads by the goalpost and went to begin his workout.
Starting at the front of the end zone, Bosa spent the next 15-plus minutes going about 30 yards up and down the middle of the field. He performed a mix of high knees, butt kicks, sprints to midfield and working on his pass rush ‘get off’ are among a variety of other moves amid pauses as people came up to him to say hello. Then, as the rest of the team began taking the field in full uniform, Bosa’s pads were put on and he worked out with the entire group.
Bosa has carried out his personal pregame stretch and workout throughout his professional career, performing it before every game and every practice. It’s what he describes as a “full dynamic routine” that helps his body warm up, which in return loosens him up, giving him a better chance of staying healthy. It’s something he developed with a trainer, Todd Rice, who has structured Bosa’s entire recovery process.
“Being able to do enough without overdoing it and feeling fresh and ready without feeling fatigued,” Bosa told ESPN of the practice.
For a long period with his former team, the Los Angeles Chargers, Bosa would do his warm up while the rest of the team stretched, but in Buffalo he has done it ahead of team stretching so he can join in on that as well.
“Over time I’m like, I feel awkward doing my own thing, and then, but they’re like, this guy comes out here, he’s so consistent, he does it every day, so we’ll just let him do his thing,” Bosa said. “So, I’ve started trying to get it in before team stretch, so I could be a part of, with the team.”
Bosa, 30, acknowledged he’s “running out of time here,” when it comes to his career. For the first time, he’s with a team other than the Chargers, signing a one-year deal coming off injury-riddled seasons that have resulted in him only playing in only 28 regular season and two playoff games over the previous three years and being sidelined for plenty of snaps. Bosa’s injury predilection has been cause for concern since his last complete year, a 10.5 sack season in 2021. The next set of goals for Bosa and the Bills rely on him staying healthy.
Bosa plays a key role for what has been an inconsistent pass rush over the years, and at times, a significant part of the Bills defense falling short. This new chapter, which will continue with Sunday night’s game vs. the New England Patriots (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), is one he is enjoying.
“It’s just work now. It’s just my life and my routine and I’m not like figuring things out,” Bosa said. “I’m just going about my day, feels like been doing it for 10 years. So, I mean, I’ve made friends with my teammates, know everybody, coaches and all that. So, feeling comfortable, comfortable with it all, and it’s funny how fast you can just adapt to a new situation and then it’s like it was never any different.”
HIS RELEASE BY the Los Angeles Chargers on March 5 was a crossroads moment for Bosa. The 2016 third-overall pick had spent his entire career with the franchise spanning San Diego and Los Angeles, a Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and five Pro Bowls. Bosa said in 2024 that he wanted to remain a Charger for life, taking a pay cut to stay with the team, even while understanding his time with the team was likely coming to an end.
The decision to sign with the Bills — a team that heavily recruited him, including involvement from quarterback Josh Allen — came in part from a desire to join a winning team and something much different to what he had experienced in L.A. There was conjecture on Bosa joining his younger brother, Nick, with the San Francisco 49ers, but that never really came close to happening given the 49ers’ financial realities.
“Maybe for five minutes on the phone,” Nick Bosa said on the possibility of his brother joining the 49ers. “Maybe for a moment.”
The pair are close, something that has been well documented, including Joey using the moniker of “jbbigbear” on social media while Nick is “nbsmallerbear.” Nick does the same pregame routine as his older brother, but with his own tweak, going through it before he’s in uniform for the game. Joey prefers to go straight from his workout to the team’s to not have the break of fully changing.
Even though they didn’t end up on the same team, there was an understanding between them. “Business is business and I’m happy for him. He’s going to get a pretty good opportunity over there,” Nick Bosa said.
That’s come to be thus far. For the first time in Bosa’s career, he’s part of a team that has started 4-0.
“I’m not taking that for granted, and there’s always things that you can improve on, and I think we’re striving to do that every day at practice,” Bosa said. “Enjoyed a little time off, feeling pretty recovered. So, overall, I think things are going great.”
While the defense overall had been middling, Bosa’s start has been strong with a league-high four forced fumbles, already tied for his second-most in a season. His league-leading 23.4% pressure percentage is the highest of Bosa’s career and his 18 pressures are tied with Green Bay Packers pass rusher Micah Parsons for the NFL’s most.
Bosa is not the first highly regarded veteran pass rusher to enter One Bills Drive. The Bills signed Von Miller to a six-year deal in 2022, but after a fast start, he suffered a major right ACL injury in his first season and never fully returned to that form. Miller was released this offseason.
In 2023, Bosa dealt with foot, hamstring and toe injuries, playing in nine games. The following year he had a gluteal strain that limited him.
With Bosa’s injury history, the Bills emphasized coming into the season that they were going to be careful with how much Bosa was playing, wanting him to be available come January. However, his playing time increased in Week 3 (87%) against the Miami Dolphins, his highest percentage of snaps in a game since September 2023.
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich and coach Sean McDermott both noted that is a number they’d like to bring down, and after he played 73% of snaps vs. the New Orleans Saints in Week 4, Babich said “we’re still going to massage it to where we find that right kind of sweet spot to where he can do the things he did at the end of the game.” Bosa had a strip sack in the fourth quarter against New Orleans.
“I won’t mention the exact count of what the plan is, but there is a plan, and it kind of got away from us [vs. the Dolphins],” Bosa said. “Some of those drives were long and they’d look at me, and I’d be like, ‘No, no.’ I hate being pulled out in the red zone even if it’s a really long drive cause I just, you want to be out there and no matter how tired you are. But yeah, I felt that game for sure.”
Bosa said that eight days after the Thursday night game, he was starting to feel better.
“Ideally, we keep it below that, but at the end of the game, if it’s crunch time and I need to be out there, I’m going to play as many snaps as I need to, but I think the goal is to try to get rest earlier in the game and steal some snaps on first and second down early,” Bosa said. “So, by the time the third, fourth quarter rolls around, we have some in the tank that we could use. But yeah, the goal isn’t to go out there and have an incredible one game. It’s about consistency and longevity for the season to manage that.”
Nick Bosa suffered a season-ending torn right ACL in Week 3. Injuries are no stranger to the Bosa family. But the reality, and the potential for an injury to crop up again, is something the elder Bosa is not keeping front of mind.
“It’s really tough, but playing scared and playing trying not to get injured is just going to cause more issues than not,” Bosa said. “So, when you decide to play it another year, you make that deal with yourself, like ‘I’m OK with getting injured, like, it’s part of the game,’ but you’re not going to think about it while you’re out there. You’re going to go full speed a hundred miles an hour and whatever happens, happens.
“But usually if you’re playing fast and violent and physical, then you’re actually going to end up protecting yourself more than if you’re watching around the pile, you’re not running to the ball, you’re going to roll up or whatever it is.”
BILLS DEFENSIVE END Greg Rousseau has watched Bosa’s tape all the way back to his college days at Ohio State. Same for fellow DE AJ Epenesa. They are familiar with what the veteran can do on a football field but now are learning from him as well.
“He does a lot of things incredibly well,” Epenesa said. “His power rushes are so effective, and part of the reason is that is, yes, he’s so big, but his get off is so impressive. You talk about how fast he can take that body and come off the line and come with force and speed and athleticism still, and then, having that power aspect… Obviously he’s such an incredible talent, a great guy. We love having him in the room, we can learn a lot from just what he does on the field.”
Off the field, Bosa said adjustment to living in Western New York has been pretty smooth, and while noting there’s not “a million things to do,” he said he has been spending time with the team, enjoying the off-field time the group spends together. During defensive line dinners, he noted no one is on their phones, instead enjoying the conversation.
The way he’s feeling has been visible on and off the field: “My dad [former NFL assistant Bob Babich] was with Joey in San Diego. [The Chargers] were still [in] San Diego, and obviously that might have been 2016,” Babich said.
“And he called me after the game, and he’s like, `Man, Joey Bosa looks like he’s having fun.'”
ESPN reporter Nick Wagoner contributed to this story.
