SANTA CLARA — At long last, Nick Bosa has returned to participate in 49ers team drills.
The 2019 Defensive Rookie of the Year looked like he hadn’t missed a beat in his first one-on-one drill with Trent Williams. The rep ended in a stalemate with Bosa getting pressure, forcing the left tackle to take a few steps back but Williams kept the edge rusher from touching the “quarterback.”
Later in 11-on-11 drills Bosa again faced off with Williams. On the first play, Raheem Mostert took the handoff from Jimmy Garoppolo without a clear winner between the linemen. On the second play, Bosa sped around the outside of Williams for a “sack.”
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SIGN UP HERE Bosa was on the field for about eight reps with the first team on Wednesday, usually two plays at a time. Wanting to be careful with his star player, Kyle Shanahan kept his reps to a minimum.
Prior to practice, the head coach spoke about what he hoped to see from the edge rusher in his first-team reps since suffering an ACL injury in Week 2 of the 2020 season.
“I think it's more mental to me with that,” Shanahan said. “He looks great on the side. He looks good doing all the football movements, in individual and stuff. And to me, it's more of his mind, which all guys need coming off a serious injury like that.
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“Nick's ready for football. He just needs to go through some reps when he's back in there and I hope he feels good about it at the end of the day.”
Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek rotated his linemen efficiently during the practice with several different combinations. Dee Ford and Samson Ebukam were both taking turns playing opposite of Bosa.
If the defensive line can stay healthy throughout the season, their speed and strength will be a force to be reckoned with.