San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch provided a few injury updates on KNBR Tuesday morning. Lynch confirmed that Nick Bosa worked on the side of practice on Monday and that’ll be the plan for Tuesday as well:
“On Wednesday, he wants to get out on the field. We’ve been working in conjunction with Nick on the best plan, he’s been doing great work to the side, Nick has always had a great sense…I’ve always believed this. Really good players are always in tune with their body. Nick is certainly
that. He’s come back from ACLs before.
It’s disappointing, because he came back in camp, and was all ready. And then when he tried to get out there on the field, it got stirred up a little. He got some tendinitis, that often happens in an ACL recovery. So that was unfortunate. He pulled back and got everything to where it was feeling better. And then Nick has gotten behind this plan of really building him up and putting him back on the field.
Is it ideal? No. But I will tell you, so long as he responds well, he’s been tracking very well. Now, always ramping it up to actual football is a difference. So that’s the next step, and we’re very hopeful.”
Lynch made it sound like the 49ers are being overly cautious with their star player in hopes of avoiding any kind of setback ahead of Week 1. Bosa won’t be in the kind of football shape he wants to be by the time the regular season gets underway, but the trade-off was not dealing with any tendinitis.
George Kittle begins his ramp-up
Lynch said George Kittle returning is “a combination of a lot of things” when asked if he could play in Week 1:
“He’s done a ton of volume to the side, and he’s looked incredible doing it. Yesterday was the first time that he got involved in team reps. We plan to continue that moving forward, continue to see how he responds. George is pushing. He’s got tremendous energy each and every day. I think that helps coming back from something like this. The way he’s approached this rehab has been tremendous. We’ll see where it goes, but it certainly has us encouraged.”
Kittle working in team drills is a good sign. Now the 49ers will see how his body responds, and how much he can handle over the next couple of days. In George’s mind, it’ll be all systems go.
Mike Evans remains sidelined with an adductor injury
Lynch spoke about Evans’ fit in the offense, and how the 49ers have “never had a guy that tall, that big, who can run the route tree.”
Evans continues to work on the side as he recovers from an adductor injury. Lynch said the hope is for Evans to return to practice early next week, “and if all goes well, he’ll be suiting up and making plays for us.”
