When the Chargers traded for Khalil Mack in 2022, there was a lot of interest in seeing how his edge rushing partnership with Joey Bosa would play out but there wasn’t much opportunity to see the two players together.
Bosa tore his groin in Week Three and didn’t return until the last two weeks of the regular season, which meant that the team barely scratched the surface of seeing what the duo is capable of doing.
“Not even close,” Mack said in a Monday press conference. “I think that it was three games in last year. Week Three. Just can’t wait to get out there with this guy. Not talk too much, but get to work.”
In addition to better health, another hope for the coming season is that the Chargers will be able to advance in the playoffs. They blew a 27-0 lead in a 31-30 loss to the Jaguars that Mack said he and Bosa are using to “fuel the fire to get better.”
“It’s one of those things,” Mack said. “Me and Joey were talking about it, it was like a bad dream, like a nightmare. Waking up from it and just putting in the work to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
The Chargers will have to navigate the regular season successfully in order to have a chance at a better postseason outcome and having Mack and Bosa together for the entire run would be a big boost to that effort.