The plan heading into the game was to limit Joey Bosa to about 20 snaps.
He ended up playing 31 as number 99 looked like his usual self.
Simply put, Joey Bosa was doing Joey Bosa things out on the field, creating havoc with his rare combination of power, speed, hustle and heart to go along with his immense talent.
Still, the Pro Bowler entered the game facing several questions, including how much he'd be able to play and how effective he'd be. Heck, the 23-year-old was wondering the very same thing.
However, he quickly put those concerns to rest.
"I felt pretty damn good yesterday," he said. "My conditioning, I was scared to get more than 15 (snaps) from conditioning alone because anybody will tell you, playing football and running drills isn't the same thing. Those long drives in the two-minute, I was gassed for sure, but I felt good. I mean, you're going to be gassed in two-minute when they're sprinting down the field running plays, but at no point was it too much or overwhelming. … It was fun playing, wish we could've got the win of course, but just to be able to get back out there and kind of know that I'm healthy enough to withstand this stuff (was important)," he said.
Still, the question on everyone's mind Monday was how the Pro Bowler physically felt after the game. Bosa himself stated a week ago that he expected to be sore after the game…he just didn't know how sore.
Well, 24 hours later, Bosa explained that his body feels great.
Coupled with the way he played, it's easy to see why Head Coach Anthony Lynn is more than encouraged about the Chargers' star going forward.
"I thought, for his first game back, and not playing football for 13 or 14 weeks, that he looked good," Lynn said. "I thought he showed good speed and explosion coming off the edge. He came out of the game healthy, and that was goal. … He may be a little sore today, but he's fine."
Perhaps equally important to how Bosa felt physically is the mental hurdle he overcame by playing 30-plus snaps.
"When I (had) those two consecutive plays where I'm really pushing myself hard, and then I have these long plays, and now this week I know I can withstand it," Bosa said. "Thirty plays in an NFL game is – well, obviously you can have more – but it's about (as) high stress of a situation as you can put yourself in. (Now) I know my foot can withstand it. I know my body can withstand it. I was pretty conditioned out there, so this week will be much more about getting back to my technique and worrying about playing and more of the football aspect of it than the health aspect of it."
That's good news for the Bolts and bad news for the rest of the NFL.
