Below are three takeaways from Chargers Head Coach Bandon Staley, safety Derwin James, Jr. and center Corey Linsley's media availability before practice on Wednesday:
Rumph to Fill In for Bosa, Who Was Placed on IR
The Bolts had more injury updates Wednesday, as Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley announced that outside linebacker Joey Bosa is headed to Injured Reserve with a torn groin.
Bosa suffered the injury in the first quarter of Week 3 against the Jaguars.
"Joey is going to have surgery. We expect him to return this season. It's going to be a ways, but we expect him to come back," Staley said. "I know that he's optimistic and ready to attack it. He's in a really good frame of mind.
"It's never easy when you have an injury like that because he was playing so well, but we got good news on that front, that it wouldn't be a season-ender and that we're going to get him back later in the season," Staley added.
Bosa had 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble through three games, and was also among the top run defenders on the Chargers defense.
Staley said he is disappointed for Bosa, especially since he was pairing well with Khalil Mack, but noted that overcoming injuries are simply part of the NFL.
"That's just a movie script. That's not the NFL," Staley said of any team having an injury-free year. "Those guys were playing so well together, so that's that part is tough. That goes for all of the groups on our team.
"The good news is that we're going to get [Bosa] back at some point this year," Staley continued. ". "The good news is that we do have Khalil Mack. That's the thing about building a team, you want to build a team that can withstand the NFL because that's part of it.
"Our team is going to rally together," Staley added. "We're going to have to make some adjustments, but I think we definitely have the guys to make adjustments with."
Chris Rumph II will now assume a starting role, as the second-year outside linebacker had been a rotational player through the first three games of 2022.
"It's next man up," Rumph said. "The standard doesn't drop at all. Same things you expect out of Joey I expect out of myself. So that's the same things I expect out of myself as well."
He later added that he's learned a ton from Bosa and Mack so far.
"Yeah, I mean those are two Hall of Famers," Rumph said. "Anytime I'm in the meeting room, we're in a team meeting, I'm always picking their mind.
"When they're talking about themselves, I'm always right behind them," Rumph added. "Just picking up little things that I can apply to my own game. I'm not expecting to be Joey or Khalil, but there's certain things I can take from each one of them and apply to my own game."
Rumph has played 61 defensive snaps this season, including 43 in Week 3 after Bosa exited. He had a sack while playing in 16 games as a rookie.
Staley said Rumph has made strides in his game, and added that veteran Kyle Van Noy could also be in the mix at edge rusher, too.
"For you guys that where here last year, you've seen how much he has improved as a player," Staley said of Rumph. "He's ready, he's ready to play on the edge.
"We're fortunate that we have [OLB] Kyle Van Noy. That was a big motive for us, bringing Kyle in here to give us that flexibility, but we think that Chris is ready to be out there," Staley added. "I definitely feel confident in those guys."
Rumph said: "It's an opportunity. First of all, we all want Joey back, [his absence] is nothing anybody wants. But I look at it as an opportunity to establish myself, show these coaches they can count on me, when things like these happen, it's the NFL, guys are going to get hurt. Like you said, next man up, the standards do not drop at all."
The Chargers also added outside linebacker Derrek Tuszka to the active roster Tuesday. Tuszka had a pair of sacks with the Steelers in 2021 and spent the 2020 season with the Broncos.
Bolts turn the page to Texans, Week 4
With 14 regular season games left on the Chargers 2022 schedule, the Bolts had no time to dwell on their Week 3 loss against Jacksonville as a new week and new opponent lies just ahead.
Wednesday marked the start of a new week and a chance to focus on beating the Houston Texans on the road for their Week 4 matchup.
As one of the team's eight captains, safety Derwin James, Jr. talked about what the Bolts need to do to this week to move on from their Week 3 loss and have success against Houston.
"Just take it day by day and control what you can control. I think that is the main thing," James said.
"Showing up to work with another week, a new challenge in Houston coming into this week. We can't think too much about the past and Jacksonville and what happened in past games. We just have to look forward to Sunday to get a win," James added.
The Texans chose LSU cornerback with the Derek Stingley, Jr. with the third overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Staley attended Stingley's Pro Day, so he was able to see the young corner's talents in person ahead of the draft. Staley, who said Wednesday was all about focusing on Houston, explained what makes Stingley a talented corner three games into his NFL career.
"He's a very complete corner," Staley said. "He has man-to-man cover ability, bump [coverage], off in slot. He can judge the ball deep, outstanding at judging the ball deep. Instincts, open-field tackling. You saw him cover a lot of the premier receivers in the game, and then on his own team.
"Outstanding prospect. I think that he's off to a good start. They're having him travel with the premier guys, so they clearly have the confidence in him to do that, as a rookie. I enjoyed scouting him. Good player," Staley added.
Corey Linsley, a captain and veteran leader on offense talked about the confidence the team has moving forward and how important it is to take the NFL season one week at a time.
"We're focused on us…all we can control is us, all we can control is the opponent, who we are playing that week. We can't look forward, can't look behind," Linsley said. "There is a sense of urgency where it's a race to get better, it's a race to improve. It's a race to figure problems out and I feel like we have that attitude. We have that commitment…and we have a lot of confidence moving forward."
Staley seeing improvement from Spiller
Despite being in the mix to be the second running back on the depth chart during training camp, rookie running back Isaiah Spiller has been inactive in all three of the Bolts games.
Staley gave an update on how the Bolts fourth-round draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft has performed the past few weeks at practice and talked about the improvement he's seeing from Spiller as he continues to earn a spot on the active roster on gamedays.
"Isaiah is doing a good job," Staley said. "He's definitely in that category of competing for a spot. A lot of it is going to be determined by how he does in the kicking game, too. We really like what [RB] Josh Kelley is giving us right now in the kicking game. He's going to have to beat one of those two out, [RB] Sony [Michel] or Josh [Kelley]. We're still at the beginning stages, but Isaiah [Spiller] is improving. He's healthy, fully healthy, and competing."
During Staley's media availability on Monday he mentioned the importance of getting the rushing attack "back on track" heading into their Week 4 matchup.
"That's going to be a big emphasis going into this next ballgame, just trying to get that back on track. Trying to fit the run game through who's out there," Staley said. "As you guys know, we're going to have to make some adjustments with our front and making sure that we fit it to those new guys."
The Texans run defense ranks 32nd in the NFL in net rushing yards allowed per game with 202.3 yards allowed per game setting up another opportunity for the Bolts running backs to put on a performance on the road.
