SAN DIEGO (AP) The San Diego Chargers had their seventh training camp practice on Monday and once again it didn’t include Joey Bosa.
Bosa, the third overall pick, remains in a contract dispute with the Chargers.
“I’m worried about the guys that are here,” coach Mike McCoy said.
It’s believed the sticking points between the parties is when Bosa’s $17 million bonus is distributed and offset language in case he signed another contract if released by the Chargers.
The former Ohio State star is the only unsigned player from this year’s draft.
Chargers general manager Tom Telesco wasn’t available for comment, according to a team spokesman.
Todd France, one of Bosa’s representatives at CAA Sports, didn’t return a message.
McCoy said, in general terms, players skipping camp can fall behind.
“Any time you don’t practice and you’re not in meetings … it comes down to playing with one another and becoming a team,” he said. “If you are new in a system it is more important to be here.
“You got to get in football shape. The offseason in shorts and T-shirts? That’s not football. You got to get your pads on. You got to work the bumps and bruises out.”
The Chargers open the preseason against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday. Bosa, a pass-rushing defensive end, is unlikely to play.
The rhetoric accelerated on Sunday when Cheryl Bosa, Joey’s mother, posted a remark toward the Chargers on Facebook. In a reply to someone frustrated by the impasse, she wrote:
“It bums me out for him so much. Wish we pulled an Eli Manning on draft day.”
Eli’s father, Archie, met with then-Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer and general manager A.J. Smith, requesting they not select his son with the 2004 draft’s No. 1 pick.
Smith snubbed the elder Manning and took Eli Manning. Smith then traded him to the New York Giants for a package which included Philip Rivers.
Manning has won two Super Bowls with the Giants.
The Chargers haven’t won a Super Bowl and have missed the playoffs in five of the past six years.
Bosa was selected to help turn around the Chargers.
“We all know how Joey loves the game and he will come back in great shape,” McCoy said. “Football shape, no. It will take some time. We’ll see about that when he gets here.”
Photo credit – John Gastaldo (San Diego Union-Tribune)
