Bosa’s recovery could make star better
COSTA MESA >> Nick Bosa has the least body fat among his 49ers’ teammates, and he’s not afraid to show it.
To get ready for next week’s entry into full-team drills, this is the tale of how he’s looked in workouts on the side, typically with a trainer after defensive line drills at training camp:
• His abdominal muscles line up like soldiers. They’re an eight-pack glistening in sweat among his bare midriff, below his No. 97 jersey that’s tucked into his shoulder pads.
• His gold, uniform pants are cut-offs, sheered midway up his super-sized quadriceps.
• His hands, covered by red gloves. His feet, adorned with metallic-gold Jordan cleats. His hair, perfectly barbered.
His look is not to resemble a professional model. But, if you’re looking for a lean, mean, pass-rushing machine, he’s made himself into a state-of-the-art prototype for 2021.
This is Bosa’s comeback season, starting Sept. 12 when the 49ers open at Detroit.
“On the side, it looks really good,” defensive coordinator Demeco Ryans said after Friday’s practice against the host Los Angeles Chargers. “I would say that his drills, all the individual stuff that he’s doing, he’s looking fast, he’s looking explosive.
“... I think he’s going to be better than he was his rookie year.”
Oh. My.
No player more than Bosa, with apologies to quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, could dictate the 49ers’ fate. Their defense needs to get back the full Bosa, the NFL’S defensive rookie of the year in 2019.
The Bosa veneer is impressive, for sure. What’s inside his left knee — and his mindset — ultimately could decide how he rebounds.
“Anytime guys come back off of injuries, the biggest hurdle is just mentally,” said Ryans, whose linebacker career (2005-15) was interrupted by Achilles tears in 2010 and ‘14.
“Just falling on the ground and getting up and understanding that you’re OK — most guys just have to go through that process,” Ryans added.
Bosa has stuck to a tight rehabilitation schedule. In his only interview of camp on July 29, he said he’s on track for the Sept. 12 regular-season opener, adding: “I’m hoping to ramp it up toward that and give it all I’ve got Week 1.”
He is 11 months removed from when the anterior cruciate ligament ruptured in his left knee. He was bent backward on a run play in the 49ers’ second game last season, on the New York Jets’ suspect turf at Metlife Field. His season was done, and, essentially, so was the 49ers’, who went 6-10 with myriad other injuries.
Bosa’s transformation after surgery began here in Orange County, where the 49ers practiced Thursday and Friday against the Los Angeles Chargers before Sunday’s preseason game at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood.
Only 10 minutes from the Chargers’ practice facility is MOTUS Specialists Physical Therapy, the ACL recovery center for Bosa and then-49ers teammate Solomon Thomas, who also was hurt in the 49ers-jets game.
Orange County is also familiar to Bosa because, well, his older brother, Joey, lives here as a Chargers’ defensive mainstay. The Bosa brothers lived and trained together before Nick was drafted No. 2 overall by the 49ers, and big brother’s pad was where Nick crashed after his rehabilitation sessions earlier this year, before he completed his offseason work in the Bosas’ hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“I’m happy he’s healthy,” Joey Bosa said after Friday’s practice. “I know he’s going to be an absolute menace out there.”
Their similarities go beyond both wearing No. 97.
Garoppolo joked after Thursday’s practice that Joey Bosa sounded just like his brother when he apologized (“Sorry, Jim”) for stripping the football on a sack.
Tight end George Kittle said of the Bosas: “They move very similar. It looks slow but it’s very fast and powerful. Their whole body just kind of moves like water, going the least amount of resistance.”
Nick Bosa is 6-4, and he reported to camp at 260 pounds, five pounds lighter than his rookie season of stardom. Joey Bosa is listed at 6-5 and 280 pounds. Kittle noted that size difference allows Nick Bosa to get better leverage by hitting “lower to high” into shoulder pads.
“They’re cool, calm, chilling by themselves,” Kittle said. “Then you put them on the football field and they’re violent, aggressive, making play after play and are relentless.
“They don’t turn off until they’re on the sideline, then they’re back to their normal selves. It’s very strange and I love it.”