Kyle Shanahan declares Nick Bosa’s 49ers debut ‘a success’ with room for improvement

Nick Bosa's ankle emerged from its NFL debut on Sunday in pretty good shape. The San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive end suffered an ankle sprain early in training camp and missed the entire preseason but was healthy enough to be on the field with his teammates against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Bosa even recorded his first NFL sack.

"An ankle sprain is something you kind of have to work through a little bit of pain in the beginning," Bosa said after the 31-17 victory in the regular-season opener, "but I'm pretty happy that I got through the whole game, and I started to pick it up at the end."

Head coach Kyle Shanahan jumped on a conference call from Youngstown, Ohio on Monday afternoon and discussed his rookie pass rusher's 49ers and NFL debut.

"He definitely had an effect on the game, which is what we were hoping for," Shanahan told reporters. "He got in the backfield a lot. I know he got that one sack which started with Dee Ford running into him. He had a number of times where he got free, which I thought were impressive.

"(Buccaneers quarterback) Jameis (Winston) made some very impressive escapes from the pocket on a number of those too. I thought it was a good first game. Still, a lot of areas to improve, but considering what he's been going through here the last few weeks, I thought it was a success."

Bosa's on-the-field skills aren't the rookie's only traits that have impressed Shanahan.

"We all know he's talented and stuff. He has to be to be the second pick in the draft," Shanahan continued. "But being around him, you can see why he's such a good football player. I mean, the guy is extremely smart, knows a lot about football, looks at it the right way, he's not just always trying to win on ability.

"He's trying to win on technique, and discipline, and plus with his ability. That's why I think he always plays to his best, and can always get better, too."