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Following Saturday night’s wild wild card game between the Chargers and the Jaguars, we were looking for quotes from LA defenseman Joey Bosa as he’s been flagged twice for unsportsmanlike conduct — and twice slammed his helmet on the ground in frustration an unannounced false start and the unannounced holding of the touchdown that cut the Chargers’ once-stunning 27-point lead to four (and two, thanks to the extra yards from the Bosa penalty).
He didn’t say much about TheAthletic.com after the game: “‘I’m not going to speak my mind and get a bigger fine than I already am’.”
Well, Bosa spoke his mind the next day, in the final hurray in the dressing room. But you won’t find the video among the various selections on the team’s website. And for a good reason. Bosa walked away.
“I think there just needs to be more accountability — I mean, if I say anything to them, I get a $40,000 fine,” Bosa said in a clip posted Monday by USA Today’s Mike Freeman. “But if they screw up a call that ruins a whole team’s season, they have to — they’re probably back in the locker room after the game, like, ‘Ha, got that asshole. you know yeah got it Fifteen meters. What a loser.’ I guarantee you that’s what they fucking talkin’ in the background. Anyway, power trip. I’m sick of these damn people.”
So much for Bosa, who isn’t worried about getting one more fine than he’s already going to get.
We support accountability for the office 100 percent. But there is a way to make the case. And there is a way not to make the case.
The reality, sad as it is, is that this season has been full of unannounced false starts from left and right tackles — and holding that is rarely announced.
Chris Simms hinted on PFT Live that this is part of an effort to help offensive linemen better compete with defensive linemen who are bigger, faster, stronger, and better than ever. Really, why not look the other way when the tackle comes into stance a fraction of a second sooner if it’s preventing the quarterback from being hit and/or injured?
Bosa isn’t the only one losing out. Regardless, he must control himself in these situations.