It looks like the San Francisco 49ers will have both tight end George Kittle and defensive end Nick Bosa on hand when they face the Los Angeles Rams in their season opener Thursday night.
While it's unequivocally good news that both Bosa and Kittle will be in uniform, we're unlikely to see both players getting their usual workloads. Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday night Pacific Time spoke with reporters and indicated both 49ers stars will be on some sort of snap count in Week 1.
“Yeah, we’ve got to be smart with that," Shanahan said. "You know, Bosa not practicing as much. Kittle, he's had this whole week, but they both look great and stuff. But we also, we definitely have got to be smart with that.”
The 49ers have worked to get Kittle and
Bosa ready for Week 1. Kittle is working back from an Achilles tear he suffered in January, while Bosa is working back from an ACL tear he sustained in Week 3 last season. For Kittle there's been a groundswell of momentum for his Week 1 return since early in the offseason when he told reporters he would be back before October. That momentum never really stopped.
With Bosa it was a little more tumultuous since he missed virtually all of training camp with tendinitis in his surgically repaired knee and the ensuing maintenance that came with it.
In either case the 49ers didn't aim to just get both players back for Week 1. Having them in uniform and playing against the Rams will be helpful, to be sure, but San Francisco now has to make sure they have both for Week 2 and beyond. For Week 1 that means managing their playing time and making sure they're not pushing either player into a setback that costs them time this season.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers vs. Rams: How much will George Kittle, Nick Bosa play in Week 1?
