Nick Bosa was noticeably absent from the San Francisco 49ers facility when reporters had an opportunity to observe practice this week. When George Kittle spoke to reporters on Tuesday, he provided an update on his defensive teammate. The two have become close since San Francisco made the young pass rusher the No. 2 overall pick in 2019, and talk "all the time," per Kittle.
"Nick's doing great," Kittle shared. "He's out there running. I know you guys see the Instagram videos. He's rehabbing well. He's happy. He's very happy where he is in his recovery. Like I said, I see the videos. He looks great.
"He's been watching the film of just the last couple of days of OTAs, and he says he's ready to come back out here, and come after me and the tight ends, and I said cut blocks are live, so get ready for it. So, I'm just excited to see Nick Bosa back on the football field."
The 49ers could have used Bosa last season. The team lost its Pro Bowl pass rusher to a torn ACL during Week 2 and went on to win just six games. There were other injuries. Many, in fact, throughout the season. However, losing Bosa that early felt like a foreshadowing of things to come. Everyone knew the impact the defensive end would have on the season. That says a lot about his talent level.
Kittle joined the Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday and shared his enthusiasm about everyone getting healthy and the upcoming campaign.
"The fact that we are getting everybody back, it's very exciting," Kittle told Eisen. "I think I've said this about 100 times; I still think Nick Bosa is like the second-best NFL player behind Aaron Donald, and I think he's going to come back with a vengeance. And I'm very excited about that because he's a very talented football player, and he definitely makes that defense gear up a whole extra notch."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan also provided an update on Bosa this week, sharing that the defender is on schedule in his rehabilitation and should be ready before training camp practices kick off on July 31.
"He came out in February for a while to get checked up on his knee and stuff," Shanahan said. "And with him coming off the ACL and everything, it's going great. I'm sure you guys have seen some videos. But he's got a good setup out there with his brother (Joey Bosa of the Las Angeles Chargers) and the guy who works with his knee. They're in contact with our guys all the time.
"I just didn't want to take him off his routine right now. I totally agree with him (being) out there. He's going to show up at some time during this, but he won't be going out there, doing anything coming off the ACL, but we fully expect him to be ready for training camp."