Joey Bosa has been a part of Chargers teams both good and bad over eight career seasons, but never elite.
He's aiming to change that heading into Year 9.
"I just want to go out there and finally put together one of those seasons as a team that's like we're serious," Bosa said Thursday, via the team website. "We've had some good years, but I just feel like we have a left a lot out there over the years."
To Bosa's point, the Chargers have twice made the playoffs during the pass rusher's tenure with the team, which started in 2016: Once in 2018 following a 12-4 finish, and again during a 2022 campaign that ended in a disastrous wild-card collapse.
The franchise has endured three five-win seasons in that span, including last year, and three times hovered within a game of .500 on either side.
Many of those years began with heightened expectations, only to result in disappointment, keeping the Chargers perennially stuck outside the club of serious contenders.
Now enter Jim Harbaugh, known for turning around programs with haste at both the collegiate and professional level. While not sky high, expectations for Los Angeles have again seen a boost under the head coach, just as Bosa's noticed a change in attitude up and down the roster.
"I'm just excited, I can't really pick one thing that I'm optimistic about," he said. "I just feel like we're playing with a lot of energy, and you saw that last weekend with the backups in there. I think that trickles up to everybody on the whole defense and whole team. I'm just excited, what I'm most optimistic about is seeing if what we feel is real and putting it to the test."
Granted, much of what Bosa is feeling lately has come from observation rather than taking part.
The 29-year-old confirmed he suffered a broken hand during a joint practice with the Rams on Aug. 4 and required surgery. The injury prevented him from practicing for three weeks, but he told reporters he's feeling good and has his legs under him.
"It was definitely unfortunate, but all in all it was really not a huge deal," Bosa said. "Like I said, the work that I've been doing over the past however many months, it's been a lot of reps. You don't lose those things in just two weeks.
"Coming back, if anything, it was time off the body, less stress on my legs and let some things heal up. Now I'm feeling ready to go."
While it's only a blip -- one he's navigated past -- the injury is still notable for Bosa due to his history. Ailments the past two seasons have limited him to just 14 games, cutting short a run of three consecutive Pro Bowl seasons. He has just nine sacks combined since 2022, fewer than his output in four of his six other years in the league. Those two campaigns below nine sacks, 2018 and 2020, also saw Bosa miss multiple weeks.
Bosa is regardless a premier pass rusher when healthy, and in tandem with Khalil Mack creates a terrifying duo for offensive lines to contend with.
Now that he's returned to the field, Bosa has time remaining still to hit full speed before taking on the rival Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 8.
"I've had a great three practices the last few days, flying around," Bosa said. "Conditioning needs work obviously, that kind of slips away a little fast, but just my legs, speed and all my power and my size has all stayed really consistent over the last few weeks. I'm feeling confident about how I'm going to perform, especially with another full week."
Then begins a season where Bosa and Co. hope to rewrite their reputation for the better.
