San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive end Nick Bosa continues to make his presence felt in games. He got to quarterback Matt Ryan during Sunday's loss to the Atlanta Falcons, earning his ninth sack of the season. While fans would like to see the Pro Bowl rookie's sack total continue to grow, head coach Kyle Shanahan wants to see another statistic — his snap count — reduced.
That goes for the entire defensive line. The players have seen their workloads increase due to several injuries. It has impacted the group's ability to substitute players in and out of the lineup and keep players fresh.
Shanahan, who joined KNBR on Thursday morning, believes Bosa is still playing at a very high level, despite the increased workload.
"I haven't seen Bosa breaking down," Shanahan told Paul McCaffrey, Adam Copeland, and Bonnie-Jill Laflin. "I see him still making plays out there, and he's still looking good. That doesn't mean we're going to keep doing it. We want to make it less, but he's been up for the challenge, and I've been very impressed with those guys so far."
Bosa has seen his snap count increase by 53 percent since the first eight games of the season. He averaged just over 38 snaps per game through Week 9 and nearly 59 snaps per game since, including a season- and career-high 68 during Week 14 against the New Orleans Saints.
"I think he had three plays off last game, if I remember right," Shanahan said. "That's definitely not our goal. It has definitely gotten a lot more challenging and stuff because of the injuries we've had and things like that. I know (Arik) Armstead was out there about the same amount. I think (DeForest) Buckner was too, give or take about five plays maybe at the most.
"It gets tougher the more guys you lose, and especially how crucial these games are right now. I want that to come down some, though. I think we can do it better, but some of the situations you get caught in, especially the passing situations, it's really tough to keep those guys off the field. Hopefully, we can balance that out better."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.