San Francisco 49ers star defensive end Nick Bosa returned to practice Wednesday for the first time in a month and plans to play in next week’s season opener against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia.
Asked if he was confident he would be ready to face the Rams, Bosa said, “After today, yeah. It was pretty good.” The eighth-year veteran did individual drills during the open portion of practice. He said he also participated in team sessions.
Both Bosa and tight end George Kittle — less than eight months removed from a torn Achilles tendon — will travel with the team when it leaves for Australia on Wednesday night, eight days ahead of the game against the Rams. The 16-hour flight arrives Friday morning in Melbourne.
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Bosa missed four weeks with tendinitis in his surgically repaired right knee. Coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch said Monday that Bosa and Kittle would practice this week and were on track for Week 1.
“We’re taking it one day at a time, but today was a great day,” Bosa said. “You put in so much work, and you think you’re coming back … and then you’re not … and then you’re back. … The workouts every day are just monotonous. But you realize why you do it when you’re around the guys, and you truly feel like you’re part of the brotherhood.”
Bosa, who turns 29 in October, last practiced Aug. 3 in his recovery from a torn ACL suffered in September, which kept him out of all but three games of the 2025 season. It was his third ACL surgery and his second on his right knee, dating to high school.
“Nick’s pretty blessed with tremendous genes and was going along great,” Lynch said Monday. “When he upped the activity, he got sore, so he backed off, and we put together a really good plan that we believe will have him ready for Australia.”
The 49ers need him back, as their pass rush is a little suspect, especially with 2025 first-round pick Mykel Williams (knee) out for at least the first four games and rookie Romello Height missing practice again Wednesday with an ankle injury. Both were working with trainers on the side.
Kittle, 33 next month, tore his Achilles in January and was activated from the physically unable to perform list Aug. 23. He has said he would rather not travel to Melbourne if he wasn’t planning to play in the game, as he would rather work on his rehab at the team facility if he needed more time.
