Chargers hopeful Bosa can get out of quarantine Saturday
COSTA MESA >> The Chargers were without four of their top defensive linemen during Wednesday’s practice.
Chargers star edge rusher Joey Bosa and defensive tackles Jerry Tillery and Christian Covington were placed on the COVID-19 reserve list. Defensive tackle Linval Joseph didn’t practice because of a shoulder injury.
Bosa tested negative for COVID-19, according to Chargers coach Brandon Staley, but Bosa was required to quarantine for five days because he was deemed as a close contact to Tillery, who tested positive for COVID-19.
Staley said the earliest Bosa could return to the team is Saturday, a day before the Chargers host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night. Bosa is reportedly unvaccinated and Tillery is vaccinated. The NFL requires unvaccinated players to quarantine for five days if deemed a close contact.
The situation isn’t as clear for Covington because he had a negative test result in between two positive results, according to Staley.
On Wednesday, the Chargers signed defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko to the active roster and added veteran defensive tackle Caraun Reid to the practice squad.
Defensive tackle Justin Jones was the lone starter practicing with the interior defensive linemen during individual drills at practice. Jones could line up next to Fehoko and Joe Gaziano if Tillery, Covington and Joseph aren’t available against the Steelers. The Chargers have defensive tackles Forrest Merrill, Andrew Brown and Reid on the practice squad.
“We’re just gonna move forward with the guys that we have, that we’ve been training,” Staley said about the backup defensive tackles. “Fortunately for us, those guys have played in the games for us. We have confidence in them because they’ve been out there. We kind of know who they are, know their strengths and weaknesses.”
Bosa, Tillery and Covington joined linebacker Drue Tranquill on the COVID-19 reserve list. Tranquill was added to the list last week and missed the game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Staley said he’s been pleased with how his players have handled the COVID-19 protocols at practices and around the team facility.
“We have outdoor team meetings,” Staley said. “We don’t ever meet inside as a big group. Our lifting groups are organized where our unvaccinated guys are completely separate from everybody else. The numbers are just a really good distribution, so that we’re safe and sound in the meeting rooms, whether it’s a team meeting, position rooms. They’re organized accordingly. And we make sure that the NFL is fully aware of our setup, and like I said, they have access to all of the video within our organization. They also have spot checkers negotiated with the union.
“I’m very comfortable with how we’ve addressed things. This issue was more or less, I think, something coming from the game, you know, when they’re in the locker room, you know, which I mean, that’s just our locker room. But everything else our guys are doing an excellent job. I think it’s been a strength of our team how we’ve handled it from the spring time to now. Now we’ve got to make sure that we maintain even higher awareness for this because around the country it’s starting to spike a little bit.”
Communication issues
Chargers safety Derwin James said the issues with Staley’s headset first started in the second quarter against the Vikings last week.
James said he couldn’t hear Staley’s defensive calls through his helmet and went off signals and walked closer to the sideline when time permitted. But James added that the technical difficulties didn’t affect the defense’s performance in the 27-20 loss to the Vikings.
“That’s part of the game, you got to be able to adjust,” James said. “I’m not here to blame that’s the reason because I feel like we still got off the field sometimes and plays are still there to be made.”
Staley applauded James for how he handled the communication situation.
“It wasn’t something that impacted the game,” Staley said. “The calls were in there fine. It’s just our headsets went out. It was truly a technical error that we addressed with the NFL. Derwin managed it really well.”