San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive end Nick Bosa didn't practice earlier this week but is back on the practice field with his teammates on Friday. The team kicked off its last full practice before traveling from Youngstown, Ohio, where coaches, players, and staff are staying this week, to Cincinnati.
Bosa entered his NFL debut this past weekend recovering from an ankle sprain suffered early during training camp — an injury that kept him out of the preseason. The rookie got dinged up on the first play of the game when he planted his foot wrong and battled through the pain but was left sore after the win.
Bosa finished the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with three combined tackles and a sack.
#49ers Nick Bosa limbering up for his first practice of the week at Youngstown State. Team flies today to Cincy pic.twitter.com/bpHFvvLm0N
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) September 13, 2019
Good sign for Nick Bosa's status for Sunday against the Bengals. He's practicing after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday with right ankle soreness. #49ers pic.twitter.com/ooHzfOxXqB
— Chris Biderman (@ChrisBiderman) September 13, 2019
"He's going to go out on the field today, and do some things," general manager John Lynch said on Friday morning, "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."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan also sounded optimistic about Bosa's chances of playing on Sunday.
"I still feel pretty optimistic about it, just talking with him," Shanahan said on Thursday. "We're going to let it play out. We'll see (how he's feeling) tomorrow when we wake up. Hopefully, he'll be able to practice. I think he will, and if he does, I feel we could feel pretty optimistic about Sunday."
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh hoped to get the young pass rusher out on the practice field at least once before a decision is made regarding his role, if any, on Sunday.
Said Saleh on Thursday: "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."
The 49ers will release their player injury report in a few hours, and we'll know Bosa's official game status at that point.