San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa took his biggest step yet toward playing in Week 1 on Wednesday. He also shed new light on why his recovery from a torn ACL hit an unexpected delay this summer.
Bosa participated fully in practice for the first time since tearing the ACL in his right knee last season, according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. Afterward, Bosa explained that an issue involving his patellar tendon — combined with pushing his football workload too quickly — caused him to back off his comeback roughly a month ago.
That makes Wednesday especially significant with the 49ers preparing to face the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia, on September 10.
Bosa stopped short of guaranteeing he will play, but his outlook was considerably brighter after getting through team drills.
“After today, yeah, that was pretty good,” Bosa said when asked about playing in the opener, via ESPN.
Nick Bosa Says He Ramped Up Too Fast During Comeback
Bosa told reporters that his recovery had been complicated by the patellar tendon problem and an attempted acceleration of his football work.
He said he “ramped it a little too fast” about a month ago, which served as a signal that he needed to pull back before returning to team periods.
The admission is notable considering the approach Bosa described earlier in his recovery.
During 49ers organized team activities in May, Bosa compared this rehabilitation to his comeback from an ACL tear in 2020. He said he had attacked that earlier recovery aggressively and believed doing so contributed to unnecessary bumps in the road.
This time, Bosa said he intended to be more patient.
“I’m taking it slow,” Bosa said in May, according to the 49ers’ official website.
His summer setback illustrates exactly why San Francisco has remained cautious.
Bosa was cleared to begin training camp rather than opening on the physically unable to perform list, and he gradually progressed from individual work into some team periods. But soreness eventually kept him out, with the 49ers later identifying knee tendinitis as part of the issue.
Wednesday represented a different threshold. Bosa was finally able to operate in team drills without consciously protecting the knee.
Now the question becomes whether the knee responds just as well to the workload that follows.
49ers Have Added Reason to Need Bosa Against Rams
San Francisco can afford to be patient with Bosa’s long-term recovery. Its defensive front, however, has already demonstrated just how difficult replacing him can be.
Bosa appeared in only three games last season before suffering the ACL injury. Without their top edge rusher for nearly the entire year, the 49ers finished with an NFL-low 20 sacks, according to ESPN.
The depth behind him is also being tested before the season begins.
Defensive lineman Mykel Williams, who is recovering from his own ACL injury, will start the year on the reserve/PUP list. President of football operations John Lynch said the 49ers considered activating Williams but chose the longer-term approach, meaning he must miss at least four games.
That increases the importance of getting a healthy Bosa back rather than merely getting him back quickly.
His next test begins almost immediately.
Bosa and the 49ers are making the long flight to Australia, where San Francisco has four practices scheduled before facing the Rams. Bosa told ESPN he plans to use compression and ice treatment during the roughly 16-hour flight while continuing to manage the knee.
The first official injury report comes after Monday’s practice.
For the first time in weeks, though, Bosa appears to have moved from simply rehabbing his knee to preparing to play football again. And after the detour he disc
49ers’ Nick Bosa Details Injury Setback Before Rams Opener in Australia