Talanoa Hufanga was limited in practice for the second day in a row. The All-Pro safety continues to work his way back from the ACL injury he sustained last season. Hufanga is eager to return to the field, and playing in the Week 1 matchup between his San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets has been his goal.
If there are any concerns about Hufanga's progress, the 49ers will likely hold Hufanga out of the game. While that seems probable, his defensive coordinator has been encouraged by the defender's recent performances.
"It's been great to see him. He looks good," Nick Sorensen told reporters on Friday. "When I see him out there moving around, I think a lot of it is part of just the process. This was just the next step. Just like anybody, there are those checkmarks and those benchmarks that everyone has to hit, and there's such a specific plan for these guys that I think he's just hitting that next one."
The 49ers activated Hufanga from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on August 27 and have been gradually increasing his workload as he prepares for his return to game action.
"We're going to be judicious, going to be smart," general manager John Lynch said last week. "... Will he be ready Week 1? Not sure. I think it's going to be tight, but I think it's telling that we made the decision not to keep him on PUP, bring him off, and we expect him somewhere early in the season."
The final decision on Hufanga's status will rest with the 49ers' medical and training staff, who have guided his rehabilitation from the start.
"But seeing him out there and trying to watch him, specifically in his individuals and some of the reps that he gets out there with the look team, he looks good," Sorensen continued. "So it's about him, how does he feel? Is he hitting those percentage numbers that he needs to hit with the strength and all those tests that they do? That I don't know fully. They kind of give you some of it. But, yeah, just talk him through it and see how he feels."
