San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga returned to the field on Sunday after recovering from a torn ACL suffered in November 2023. While the outcome wasn't the victory he had hoped for, Hufanga and his teammates have already shifted their focus to the upcoming matchup against the New England Patriots.
Hufanga spoke with Bay Area radio station KNBR on Tuesday, expressing how good he feels following his first game back.
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"Honestly, I can't be complaining at all," Hufanga said. "I feel excellent. Continue to strive and put good stuff out there on film and stuff. But for me, the body held up, and for a first game, I played more snaps than I could ever even imagine."
Hufanga played 54 snaps against the Rams, with only five defensive teammates logging more. It was a solid return for the All-Pro safety, who earned the sixth-highest grade among 49ers defenders from analytics site Pro Football Focus.
Despite the disappointment of the injury, Hufanga received valuable advice from Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu, who helped him turn the setback into an opportunity.
Hufanga shared, "He was like, 'Well, this is the time for you to really dive down into your playbook, dive into the film, critique yourself at the highest level, and most importantly, spend time with the family. So when you can do all those things, you come back out stronger mentally and physically, for sure.'"
As Hufanga took the field with his teammates for the first time since the injury, he felt no nerves—only excitement and gratitude. The magnitude of the moment didn't fully hit him until the national anthem played.
Although Sunday's loss was tough, Hufanga is already reviewing his performance and finding ways to improve.
"Credit to the Rams and what they did late in the game to get going, but we got to do better," Hufanga said. "And that starts with me, whether that's something I can do in the huddle, alerts, checks, different things. So, anytime plays are made in the back end, I like to put it all on me because, at the end of the day, that's my job.
"My job is to communicate. My job is to get guys set up and put them in the right positions because I feel like me and [LB] Fred [Warner] can really run this defense, and Fred gets his guys going, and I got to get my guys going as well.
"So we get back in the film room, we're trying to figure everything out and detail it out so we can come back out strong this week."
You can listen to Hufanga's entire interview below.
