Chargers' Joey Bosa says fractured toe 'shouldn't be a problem'

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Joey Bosasaid Friday that hehas a fractured left big toe.

Bosa, who suffered the injury in Week 3 against theMinnesota Vikings,had already been dealing with a hamstring injury from Week 1 and missed the Chargers' Week 4 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. After the Week 5 bye, Bosa returned against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night and played 28 snaps, posting two tackles and a pass rush win rate of 12.5%, his second lowest this season.

Still, Bosa said his toe had "zero" impact on his play.

"We were going to shoot it up last week, but I felt good enough to where I didn't want to," Bosa said, likely referring to a Toradol shot many players take to play through injuries. "There's always a risk when you can't feel it, but I felt pretty confident going into the game. Definitely was a little nervous about how everything would respond after this training."

Bosa said he isn't on a snap count but that he probably wouldn't be playing 50-60 snaps in the coming weeks to help ensure the injury doesn't get worse.

In Week 1, Bosa played 56 snaps against the Miami Dolphins, and in his three games since, he hasn't played more than 28, averaging 23. He said he is wearing a "hard shell" on his toe and that the bone is starting to fuse together, so the chance of it separating is unlikely.

"I've just got to manage it," Bosa said. "Make sure I'm keeping it nice and taking care of it. But it shouldn't be a problem anymore."

Bosa's injuries have opened opportunities for rookie outside linebackerTuli Tuipulotu, who has been among the team's best players this season. Tuipulotu is fifth among rookies in quarterback pressures (17) and tied for third in sacks (2).

"He's one of the best rookies I've ever been around," Bosa said. "You forget that he is a rookie. Just talking about how impressive he's been taking what we do on the practice field and translating it to the game. You can see all the moves we work every day that he didn't do at all coming in a year ago. And now he's executing some of these moves at an extremely high level."