San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive end Nick Bosa had an impressive NFL debut on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He didn't escape the game unscathed, though. He entered the matchup recovering from an ankle sprain and left Tampa, Florida pretty sore after planting his foot incorrectly on the first play and battling through the pain.
Bosa has not practiced yet this week. The team hopes to get him on the practice field on Friday in preparation for its Week 2 game on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
General manager John Lynch joined KNBR on Friday morning and sounded optimistic that Bosa would be on the practice field for the team's last session before traveling from Youngstown, Ohio, where the team has practiced this week, to Cincinnati.
"The good news is that Nick played at a really high level," Lynch said on the "Murph and Mac" show. "The bad news, he came out a little sore. But he's done a really nice job getting himself (better). He's gotten better every day.
"He's going to go out on the field today, and do some things, and then we'll make a decision as to what's best for Nick and what's best for our team as to whether he goes or not, and then how much he goes. But we are encouraged with the way he's recovered this week."
Lynch goes on to say that Bosa will be an important part of the organization for a long time. The team wants to win now, but it takes the long-term picture into account before anything else.
"I can assure you with Nick, and any other player, we're not putting them out there unless they've, obviously, been medically cleared, but we feel good about putting them out there," Lynch continued. "We will not do anything to jeopardize Nick's health. We want him well for the long-term and for the season. That all is being weighed so if he's out there (it's because) we feel comfortable with that."
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said on Thursday that he would like to see Bosa get through at least one practice before even thinking about playing him on Sunday.
Said Saleh: "I always think they [need to practice to play] but this is a new day and age, right? They're coming out there, playing without practicing, but I'd like to see him practice because I do think that there's things that you want to try and work on as a football player, in general, even if you're a 10-year vet. I think practice is valuable, for sure."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.