Top Quotes | Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, & Brandon Staley Speak During Minicamp Day 1

Jun 14, 2022 at 03:47 PM

Take a look at top quotes from head coach Brandon Staley and OLBs Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack's press conferences after Tuesday's practice.

Head coach Brandon Staley

On the start of veteran minicamp:

"I think that we've had an outstanding offseason program. I'm really appreciative of our attendance. It's been perfect attendance. To have the full group here today, and to be able to finish our offseason the right way, is important. I like the vibe out there. I like the focus, the detail. I think we're controlling the things that are within our control right now."

On perfect attendance today and 'building toward going all the way':

"It's a responsibility I think really seriously, that your players are excited to come into the building every day. They have the hardest job in the organization. They have the most at stake, so I want our players to always have that energy to come in to work and be excited to compete. I think it requires a team effort, starting at the top with your leadership, with our ownership, our personnel department, our coaching staff, and then our sports performance staff, PR, media, like it takes everybody, and our fans, because players understand that the fan base is so important, too. I think it's everybody coming together. Then, when you bring in the right types of guys, they like playing ball. I think that that's what we've done, we've brought in a bunch of guys that really like playing ball and like doing all the hard parts of football. It's been exciting to join up with this group, for sure."

On OLB Joey Bosa spending 'an extended period of time' with the team during OTAs:

"I think it's important that he's joining up with some new guys, both with [OLB] Khalil Mack, [OLB] Kyle [Van Noy], and then with the guys inside — [DL] Austin Johnson, [DL] Sebastian [Joseph-Day], [DL] Otito [Ogbonnia] and then Foxy [DL Morgan Fox]. He has a bunch of new players that he's rushing with and playing the running with. We really wanted to make sure that that chemistry started to express itself in the springtime. I think that's one of the advantages of the springtime, you can start to develop that chemistry that happens on the field, it happens off the field, and we wanted to make sure that that would take place if it could. It just says a lot about Joey that he's here, and that it means a lot to him. We're a much better team having him here, that's for sure."

On OLB Khalil Mack:

"Khalil is doing great out there. I think from when he got here to now, he's made a lot of progress. He's a guy, as you guys will know, he knows himself better than any of us, so he will be ready to go. There's a long journey between now and our first game, but I really like the progress that he's made. He's been able to get in his helmet out there, get his cleats on, be able to go through individual on the side, and start to build that wind and start to do some fundamentals. Our training staff has taken very good care of him, led by [Head Athletic Trainer] Damon Mitchell and [Associate Athletic Trainer] Marco Zucconi, our sports performance staff with [Director of Sports Performance] Anthony Lomando, [Head Strength & Conditioning Coach] Jonathan Brooks, that group of people. I think that's part of it, him getting to know all of the people around here that are going to help him, but I like where he's at. The one thing about Khalil Mack is that he will be ready to go."

OLB Joey Bosa

On his 'focus' this offseason:

"Just trying to get my body back in shape. I was dealing with a few things last year, just Year 7 bumps and bruises here and there. Just managing my body. Unfortunately, I can't go out there and bee-line pass rushes every single day or I won't be ready for this season. But, yeah, it's been going really well. I'm feeling good. I have some good size and strength going right now, so just have to have a good last five or six weeks here and I'll be ready to roll."

On playing alongside of OLB Khalil Mack:

"It's amazing. Just to have another guy like that to lean on, to look at — I was just talking to, I can remember who, today about it. Just getting to know him, he's a really nice guy. I was talking to Giff [Smith] about how he reminds me of [former Chargers DL Brandon] Mebane a little bit; his temperament, he's a chill dude. He's great to talk to. Along with that, he's obviously an unbelievable player, so having a guy like that on the other side is going to be really fun."

On physical aspects of his game that he has 'picked up' from Mack:

"We really rush completely different. Obviously, we have similarities in some aspects, but we rush pretty differently, so there are a lot of different ideas that we could bounce off of each other. We were just talking about it today how we'll definitely have some film sessions where we'll break down each other's old film and kind of see if we could pick up anything and learn stuff. Along with that, having a guy like that to compete with every day, I always want to be the best rusher out there and perform the best in the group, so to have that competition every single day, I think that's going to drive me to be a lot better this year."

On Head Coach Brandon Staley entering his second season as head coach:

"He's kind of always been himself. Maybe it's, inside his own head, a little more confident, but I think any organization, any team, it's always going to take some time to get comfortable together, get comfortable with the scheme. I was saying it in some other interviews that I think Year 2 is definitely a great opportunity because being together all last year, it's really hard to make things work in the first year together under a new scheme, new coaches, everything. I think that we have a great opportunity having a lot of guys that have been in it for a year now. He's bringing in guys that he's known from other teams, so it's kind of becoming a nice, cohesive unit."

OLB Khalil Mack

On playing with OLB Joey Bosa:

"Oh man, it's been dope, man. Just picking his brain and getting to talk a lot of football. You can tell he has a real love for the game and it's going to be fun playing with him, for sure."

On what he's learned about Bosa:

"He's very smart. He's a smart rusher. He thinks about a lot of things. Sometimes, he probably gets too far in his head because he knows so much. He has so much knowledge about the game. It's going to be fun to kind of break down film together, watch each other and figure this thing out together."

On his offseason with the Chargers:

"Yeah, it's been dope, man. It's been dope. It's a really cool town. Everybody is pretty chill and laid back. It's dope. Just figuring out the process. Figuring out everything. Figuring out where to go eat and all of that different stuff. There's a lot of good options, too. Just figuring it out, winging it and enjoying it. Enjoying being here with my family, as well."

On his familiarity with the defense:

"That's the thing. Strangely enough, the defensive calls are pretty much all the same. It's just different wording. Just figuring out the different tangibles as far as what [Head] Coach [Brandon] Staley and the defensive staff want from myself, first and foremost, making sure I'm able to affect games the way I know how to affect games."

On how the new veteran defensive pieces help him integrate to the defense:

"You can say it makes it easier. I feel that it makes it easier now, just the fact that we've spent weeks together learning each other. Learning what we like and what we don't like, learning what this guy likes and this guy doesn't like with the games that we like to play up front and all of those different things. It matters, especially this time of year. Moving forward, it's going to be important for us to still get together throughout the summer and still stay in that same groove so that when training camp comes around it's like we've been playing together our whole lives."