The flurry of injury issues over the past month have not been ideal for the San Francisco 49ers.
After losing a player with a ton of potential like wide receiver Jalen Hurd, seeing center Weston Richburg likely to miss the first six weeks of practice and Deebo Samuel possibly missing the start of the season due to an injury back in June, the 49ers don’t want to see any more players go down.
However, what San Francisco wants and what reality entails is different, and the latest issue comes in the form of defensive end Nick Bosa’s quad.
While it doesn’t seem like a major injury, it’s also one that the 49ers will take seriously for two major reasons: the impact that Bosa has on the team, as well as the context of the 49ers’ injury history over this offseason.
Bosa did walk around practice on Saturday, and it appears as if it could’ve been a break day for Bosa anyways. That being said, his being sidelined for the end of yesterday’s practice and for Saturday is still something to monitor.
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Bosa’s Injury History
There’s not much that needs to be said about what Bosa’s impact has been with the 49ers since coming to Santa Clara, California as the second overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
To put it simply, 13 total sacks, an interception and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2019. If there was any question about Bosa’s output on the field, it was put to rest fairly quickly in his time with San Francisco.
However, the core injury that cut his time with Ohio State short as well as the hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for most of the spring were then followed by a high-ankle sprain, leaving Bosa on the sideline for the entire 2019 preseason and also coming off the bench for the early part of the season.
While Bosa has a tough track record, he also does seem to pick up injuries, although nothing major since the core injury that forced him to surgery and to miss the majority of his final college season.
Bosa and Injuries Going Forward
While Bosa has suffered a handful of injuries over the past couple years, he also seems to have a good approach and team that has helped him consistently and quickly recovered.
Evidenced by his on-field production, most of Bosa’s issues have been overcome in a relatively positive fashion, although the repeated nature of the injuries is something that the 49ers have obviously taken note of.
It will be interesting to see what Bosa’s workload will be for the next few days. If he’s back in pads and a helmet on Sunday, then there is not much to worry about.
But even if he’s not, it shouldn’t be a reason to panic for 49ers fans. It would not be surprising to see San Francisco take it especially slow with Bosa, to ensure that they don’t aggravate the issue and make things worse.
Injury is something you never want to see, but Bosa’s track record and the 49ers respect for the situation should alleviate any major concern going forward in terms of his quad injury.
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Evan Reier is a sportswriter covering the San Francisco 49ers for Heavy.com and local sports for the Montana Standard in Butte, Mont. Reach out to him on Twitter at @evanreier and join our 49ers community at Heavy on 49ers on Facebook.
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49ers’ Star DL Missing Practice Due to Possible Quad Injury: Report