San Francisco 49ers right guard Dominick Puni was determined to return for Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. He ended up playing all but one offensive snap—75 of the 76 total count. Only four teammates logged more.
Unfortunately, Puni's debut wasn't his strongest outing. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), he earned a 51.2 offensive grade, tying wide receiver Russell Gage for the lowest mark among the 49ers' offensive players. Most of his struggles came in the run game, where he recorded a 48.4 run-blocking grade, paired with a 60.4 pass-blocking grade.
Puni entered Week 1 recovering from a PCL sprain suffered during San Francisco's second preseason game. While his availability was uncertain, the offensive lineman managed to return to practice sooner than anticipated.
Looking back on his performance, Puni admitted there was noticeable room for improvement.
"Rusty, rusty for sure," Puni said when asked to assess his Week 1 performance. "I think I got hurt at an untimely time. To miss the last two weeks of camp, that's really probably the most important time. And then, to come back for just a week of practice, and try to get two really good practices, and then go out there and play live football again for the first time in however long, I was definitely rusty.
"But I'm glad I played. I played through the knee, got comfortable with it. That was my biggest thing; I just wanted to make sure I could still play football, and I was comfortable. And now, I feel good."
Puni also credited offensive line coach Chris Foerster for balancing patience with accountability.
"He understands you can't just come back and just be as good as you can," Puni explained. "It's gonna take a little bit. But at the same time, you've gotta be a pro. You've gotta handle everything you can when the time comes. So when the [opportunities] come, you actually gotta take advantage of it. He understands that, but he's definitely doing a great job pushing me to get back to that level of play I can play at."
The 49ers will look to improve to 2-0 this weekend against the New Orleans Saints, but they'll have to do it without quarterback Brock Purdy, whom head coach Kyle Shanahan officially ruled out. Mac Jones will start in his place, and Puni is eager to see how the veteran quarterback performs in his 49ers debut.
"He walks in the huddle and commands it," Puni said of Jones. "He has so much experience with the Patriots. He has so much playing time. He's not new to it. That's the good thing—our number two quarterback is very experienced and he's a vet."