When the San Francisco 49ers open their regular season on the road against the Detroit Lions next week, 2019 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Nick Bosa will be back in action.
In fact, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan expects that Bosa will be heavily involved after missing most of last season to a torn ACL.
“I’m expecting to see a lot of [Bosa],” Shanahan said on the Murph & Mac show, via David Bonilla of 49ersWebZone.com. “I mean, he’s been on a plan this whole way, coming back from his big injury and being ahead of schedule since the beginning. And he’s gotten two weeks of practice in where he’s been out here pretty hard.
“We didn’t let him go in the preseason game, which wasn’t too tough of a decision. His first year here, he didn’t play in any preseason games either, and I thought he did pretty good as a rookie.”
Bosa injured his knee in Week Two of last season against the New York Jets. He played just 11 snaps in the game before his left knee buckled while engaged with a tight end in a block on a running play. Bosa missed the rest of the season. The injury happening so early last season has given him that little bit extra time to get back in form before the 2021 season gets underway. Bosa has been making steady progress throughout his rehab process and the team has expected that he would be ready for the start of the season.
“So, the main thing was getting him healthy,” Shanahan said. “Nick is as prepared as any player I’ve been around on and off the field, so hopefully, he’ll stay on course here, and he’ll be Nick Bosa come Week One.”
Bosa had 47 tackles and nine sacks in 16 games played for the 49ers as a rookie en route to the rookie of the year award.