Bosa, Elliott set for some friendly competition

Former Ohio State roommates will do battle in NFL for the first time

COSTA MESA, CALIF.—Joey Bosa and Ezekiel Elliott have been close friends since arriving as freshmen at Ohio State in 2013. On Sunday, the former college roommates find themselves on opposite sidelines in one of the spotlight games of Week 2.

Bosa and the Los Angeles Chargers play in front of fans at their palatial Inglewood, Calif., home for the first time when they host Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys.

The Chargers won their opener for the third straight season and are looking to go 2-0 for the first time in nine years while the Cowboys attempt to avoid their first 0-2 start in 11 years.

This will be the first time Elliott and Bosa have faced each other in the NFL. Elliott was serving an NFL suspension the last time the two teams met, on Thanksgiving Day in 2017.

“It’ll be awesome. Last time we played against each other was in practice (preparing for the 2016 Fiesta Bowl) and we didn’t take it easy on each other then, so I am sure we won’t this weekend,” Bosa said.

“We have come a long way from the dorm rooms back in 2013, so it will be cool to be out there with him.”

Bosa and Elliott were roommates during their first two years at Ohio State, including the 2014 national championship season. Elliott said they were able to spend some time with each other in Dallas in the off-season.

“Man, that’s my brother,” Elliott said. “I mean we went through a lot together. I mean coming in, young, 17, growing up. Basically we came in on that campus together and we won a national championship here in Dallas, so it was just fun.

“I think we both were messy. We both are big mama’s boys, so we weren’t the best cleaners.

We both had our mom come do our laundry on weekends when they came in town for the game.”

Both were drafted in 2016 when Bosa went third overall to the Chargers and Elliott was selected one spot later by the Cowboys. Both have also had major impacts on the league.

Bosa’s 48 1⁄2 sacks over the past five-plus seasons rank seventh in the NFL. His five-year contract extension last July also made him the league’s highestpaid defensive player until Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt eclipsed that last week.

Elliott won the league rushing title two of his first three seasons, and his 8,341 yards from scrimmage in his first five years were eighth most in the history of the league.

Both players also have a lot to prove after the openers.

Elliott had only 33 yards on 11 carries in last week’s 31-29 loss at Tampa Bay, and spent the majority of his time in pass protection.

“If you know football, if you’re in this building, you can tell someone can have a solid game without having the best statistics,” Elliott said.

Bosa had a sack and two quarterback hits in last week’s 20-16 win over Washington.

But he also had a pair of roughing-the-passer penalties.