09/07/26 10:12:00
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09/07 22:11 CDT The 49ers expect Nick Bosa to play season opener in Australia
The 49ers expect Nick Bosa to play season opener in Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- San Francisco 49ers star pass rusher Nick Bosa is
set to play in the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams in his first game
action since a tearing a knee ligament last September.
Bosa tore the ACL in his right knee on Sept. 21 last season. He began training
camp on the active roster but missed almost all of camp with tendinitis and
soreness in the knee. He returned to practice last week and now is ready to
play the opener on Friday in Australia.
"He's going out there," defensive coordinator Raheem Morris told reporters
before the team practiced at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Tuesday. "He'll be
there. We're not hiding that."
The 49ers are counting on a healthy Bosa this season to help spark a pass rush
that finished last in the NFL with 20 sacks last season. Bosa has had at least
nine sacks in the five seasons when he didn't get hurt in the opening month as
he has been one of the most productive edge rushers ever since being drafted
second overall in 2019.
Bosa has made the Pro Bowl in all five of his healthy seasons and won the AP
NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022, when he led the league with 18
1/2 sacks.
Bosa's 74 1/2 sacks in the regular season and playoffs are the fifth-most in
the NFL since he entered the league in 2019 despite missing nearly two full
seasons. His 280 total pressures rank fourth-most in the NFL in that span,
according to Sportradar.
Star tight end George Kittle is also expected to play in his first game since
he ruptured right Achilles tendon in the playoffs last January. He returned to
practice late last month and is set to play the opener.
"Super impressed with how he's looked considering the injury he had and how
quickly he got back out on the field and just committed to his rehab,"
offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. "It's been pretty cool to see Kittle
out there looking like himself to me, looking fresh. How that affects him on
game day and what the workload is, that will be determined. But he looks good
to me. He's practicing full speed. He's getting a ton of reps. So I feel like
we're in good shape."
Kittle is a two-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler who is a key part of San
Francisco's offense as a passing threat and a blocker in the run game. He had
57 catches for 628 yards receiving and seven touchdowns last season.
49ers remain mum on starting left guard
The one major uncertainty about San Francisco's lineup for the opener is at
left guard where several players have rotated with the starters in training
camp as the team waited for someone to seize the job.
The leading contenders now appear to be rookie Carver Willis and second-year
player Connor Colby but Kubiak wouldn't say who would get the nod. He also said
there could be a rotation at the spot.
Willis is a fourth-round pick out of Washington who didn't play guard at all in
college. Despite playing tackle in college, the Niners envisioned him as an
interior lineman when they drafted him and have worked him extensively at guard
this summer.
Colby was a seventh-round pick last year out of Iowa. He started six games at
guard last season but struggled. He began camp as the starter but was unable to
solidify that role.
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