49ers Beat: Bosa quick out of gate in recovery from injury.
Nick Bosa reached another milestone Wednesday in his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered nearly a year ago. And the 49ers’ Pro Bowl edge rusher reached the quarterback on his first pass-rush snap of team drills this summer.
Bosa, who had been limited to individual work since the start of training camp in late July, played nine snaps during the team period and immediately had a would-be sack of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Bosa jogged off the field and was greeted enthusiastically by assistant defensive line coach Darryl Tapp. Bosa lined up over tight end George Kittle on the play and sprinted to Garoppolo after apparent miscommunication along the offensive line.
After his nine snaps, Bosa ended practice doing scheduled rehab work on a side field. Bosa has acknowledged he’s returning from a “big” injury that also included cartilage damage in addition to the torn ACL. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Bosa’s final hurdle is mental. That is, he needs to trust that his surgically repaired knee is ready for the rigors of playing in a game.
“To me, it’s more of his mind, which all guys need coming off a serious injury like that,” Shanahan
said. “Nick’s ready for football. He just needs to go through some reps.”
QBs rotating: Shanahan said early in training camp that rookie quarterback Trey Lance would play at least situationally this season. It appears Shanahan is preparing for Lance to play in certain situations in the season opener at Detroit on Sept. 12.
After Garoppolo played with the starters and Lance ran with the second team for the early part of team drills, they began substituting regularly during the final three move-the-ball periods. Garoppolo had seven snaps with the first team during that practice-ending stretch and Lance took five.
Before practice, Shanahan foreshadowed the QB substitutions, referencing how the Saints had spelled Drew Brees with mobile Taysom Hill during Brees’ final three seasons.
“I think I’m doing a little bit more of it here these next two weeks, just for me to get used to it and stuff, so the guys get used to it,” Shanahan said. “Watching New Orleans doing it with Drew Brees and Taysom has been pretty cool over the last three years. I’m sure that took them some time to kind of get the flow of that.”
Shanahan continued to decline to officially name his Week 1 starter, but all signs continue to point to Garoppolo. Shanahan said after Sunday’s preseason win over the Chargers that not much had changed since he declared Garoppolo was the clear starter at the beginning of camp. Shanahan said Wednesday he had a “pretty good idea” who would start.
“I would love to help you guys and answer you guys,” Shanahan said, “but I think you guys all have got a pretty good idea. And I think our team does also.”
Garoppolo smiled when confirming he also had a good idea about Shanahan’s Week 1 plans. It was suggested his smile might mean he was keeping his starting spot.
“I’m pretty happy with where I’m at right now,” Garoppolo said, “and just the offense as a whole.”
Tartt returns: Strong safety Jaquiski Tartt (toe) was activated from the physically unable to perform list, raising the possibility he could assume his starting spot in Week 1.
Tartt, who took a handful of practice snaps with the second team, had been slow to recover after he had offseason surgery for a turf-toe injury he suffered in November. Shanahan said Aug. 10 that he didn’t expect Tartt to practice soon.
“I know he feels good right now, which is very encouraging,” Shanahan said. “I think he started feeling a lot better while we were down in L.A. (last week). So, I’m just pumped he wants to practice today (and) feels healthy enough to practice today.”
Injury report: Left tackle Trent Williams (knee), defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw
(shoulder), wide receiver Jalen Hurd (knee), cornerback Emmanuel Moseley (hamstring) and running backs Elijah Mitchell (hip) and Trey Sermon (ankle) all returned to practice.
Cornerback Jason Verrett
(undisclosed), linebacker Dre Greenlaw (undisclosed), wide receiver Jauan Jennings (heel), guard Aaron Banks (shoulder) and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (ankle) were sidelined.