49ers
Camp Notebook

Nick Bosa Practised For The First Time Since August 3

San Francisco held its final session before an eight-thousand-mile flight on Wednesday, and the defensive end who had not been on a practice field since August 3 took team reps in it. The non-participant list went from nine to six. Nobody was named the starting left guard, and the club made no roster move on the day it left.

SK
Sam KezarSep 2, 20264 min read
Every call on this site goes on a public ledger and gets graded. The misses stay up.
Nick Bosa in the 49ers' white road jersey with red numerals, the 49ERS wordmark across the chest and the number 97 below it, grinning at the camera after a game, the jersey streaked with mud and the stadium seats behind him empty.

Nick Bosa practised on Wednesday. He had not done that since August 3.

Nick Wagoner, at ESPN, has him in a full practice, individual drills and then team periods, which is the first of those he has taken since he tore the right anterior cruciate ligament in Week 3 of last season. David Bonilla, at 49ers Webzone, records the black sleeve on the right knee and dates the absence the same way. Kyle Posey, at Niners Nation, lists him among four men back from injury.

Bosa explained why the team period is the part that counts.

"Once you get into team, there's no reservations, there's no compensation, like there's no governor," he said, in Wagoner's account of the availability. "So yeah, I felt that today."

He was asked about the September 10 opener against the Rams. "After today, yeah," he said. "It was pretty good."

He also gave a reason for August that nobody in the building had given. "I kind of ramped it a little too fast with the football stuff a month ago or whatever it was," Bosa said. "And that kind of told me to back off." The club spent the month calling it soreness, then tendinitis in the surgically repaired knee. This is the first time the ramp itself has been named.

Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday morning that Bosa and George Kittle both board the flight. Tim Kawakami has the same. Raheem Morris, a day earlier, declined to say how the snaps get managed and said the staff has one: "But obviously, they've got a real legit plan."

The list is three shorter#

Six players did not participate on Wednesday, per Posey: cornerback Renardo Green (hamstring), receiver Jacob Cowing (groin), linebacker Luke Gifford (hamstring), defensive tackle Gracen Halton (ankle), defensive end Romello Height (ankle) and defensive tackle James Thompson Jr., whose injury has not been named.

Nine sat out Tuesday. Four came off the list, Bosa, Mike Evans, Kyle Juszczyk and Ephesians Prysock. One went on, Thompson. Nine less four plus one is six, and it reconciles.

The honest number of men not doing team work is seven, and the seventh has no stated reason. Posey writes that Jack Jones "didn't do any work with the team," that multiple reporters had him on a side field, and that nobody named an injury. Jones is Green's backup. If both are unavailable in Melbourne, the third cornerback is a rookie playing his first professional game against Los Angeles.

Evans was the return nobody had scheduled. John Lynch said last week that the receiver "ran into a little hiccup with his adductor, but he's working really well to the side, and hope to get him back here early next week," which meant Australia. He was on the field in Santa Clara instead.

Kittle has three days#

Lynch, on Tuesday morning: "Yesterday was the first time he got involved in team reps, and we plan to continue that moving forward, continue to see how he responds." That dates the first to Monday. Kittle is absent from Tuesday's list and Posey has him practising Wednesday, so the count is three straight sessions. He ruptured the Achilles in January and came off the physically-unable-to-perform list on August 23. Lynch, on the rehab: "It comes down to some objective measures, and he's absolutely crushed them all."

Left guard flew unresolved#

Nothing published Wednesday names a starter there. The club's transaction page, read in a browser at 2:44 p.m. PT, ends on September 1 and carries no September 2 entry at all, so San Francisco made no roster move on the day it left. The unofficial depth chart is unchanged from its August 27 stamp, where left guard is the one position of twenty-nine whose first column is empty and Carver Willis sits second.

Kyle Shanahan's answer on Monday stands as the last one. "Don't know yet," he said, and the reason he gave was that the short week had eaten the three practices a starting lineup usually gets. Wednesday was the last of the three. It produced no announcement.

All nine offensive linemen on the active roster were available again. None of them appears on Tuesday's nine or Wednesday's six.

Odds and ends#

A defensive tackle visited on a day two defensive tackles did not practise. Bonilla, reading the league's transaction report, has the club hosting McKinnley Jackson. He is six foot two and 325 pounds, a Texas A&M product taken by Cincinnati in the third round in 2024, and the Bengals waived him at the August 30 cutdown after 22 games and one start. Halton and Thompson are the two who sat. The club signed nobody.

There is still no long snapper on the active roster. Jon Weeks is on the practice squad. A standard elevation is available twice a game and three times a season.

The trip, off the Associated Press. About 8,000 miles and roughly sixteen hours, out Wednesday night, into Melbourne on Friday. A light practice Saturday, Sunday off, then three sessions Monday to Wednesday. Kickoff is 5:35 p.m. PT on Thursday, September 10, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is Friday morning where it is being played. Los Angeles is the designated home team, which is the part that gets stated backwards. The Rams hold the league's marketing rights in Australia and New Zealand under the Global Markets Program, and this game is what those rights are for; they gave up a home date to play it. San Francisco is flying eight thousand miles to be the visitor.

Shanahan, on what the flight does: "It's a big adjustment on the body. So, the recommendation for everybody has been to tell us when to go, and it's made a lot of sense."

Called Shots#

Nick Bosa plays fewer than half of San Francisco's defensive snaps against the Rams on September 10. He is one practice removed from a month away, the flight is sixteen hours, and his defensive coordinator says the plan for him exists and would not describe it. Scored off the official game book's participation page. Priced at -130.

Sources: Nick Wagoner, ESPN, September 2; Kyle Posey, Niners Nation, September 2, 4:41 p.m. EDT; David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone, September 1 and September 2; 49ers.com transaction page, read 2:44 p.m. PT September 2; 49ers.com unofficial depth chart, stamped August 27; Josh Dubow, Associated Press, September 2; NBC Sports, August 30, on the Jackson waiver.

Filed under 49ers

More on Jacob Cowing

His page →
The record

Four Hundred And Forty Punt Returns Since Ted Ginn Jr. Scored The Last One

San Francisco has returned 440 punts for 3,826 yards since Ted Ginn Jr. ran one back 55 yards against Seattle on September 11, 2011, and none of the 440 has scored. Thirty-five of them gained twenty yards or more, two gained forty, and the longest is a 66-yard return in 2025. Jacob Cowing's 83-yard punt return touchdown at the Chargers on August 20 is longer than any of them and came in a preseason game, so it does not enter the record. He has not returned a punt since, missed the last full practice of camp with a groin injury and did not dress for the finale at Las Vegas. The roster is due at 3 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.

Sam KezarAug 29, 20264 min read
Four Hundred And Forty Punt Returns Since Ted Ginn Jr. Scored The Last One
Called Shots

Jalen Stroman Played Every Defensive Snap And More Special Teams Than Anybody

Six calls on San Francisco's initial 53-man roster, due Sunday at 3 p.m. Pacific. In: Jalen Stroman, who played all 66 defensive snaps and 21 on special teams against the Raiders, the most of any 49er; Nate Hobbs; and Jacob Cowing, already on the ledger since August 23. Out: Jordan Watkins, who played 53 of 61 offensive snaps and touched the ball nine ways; Ashtyn Davis; and Ogbo Okoronkwo, already on the ledger since August 5. Every call scores off the club's announced initial 53 and nothing else. A man placed on injured reserve from that list counts as having made it.

Sam KezarAug 29, 20266 min read
Jalen Stroman Played Every Defensive Snap And More Special Teams Than Anybody
Camp Notebook

Kurtis Rourke Has Three Broken Ribs And Does Not Play Tonight

Kyle Shanahan confirmed on Tuesday that Kurtis Rourke broke three ribs in the preseason opener, twelve days after the club said the X-rays taken in the stadium showed nothing broken and sent him to hospital for more imaging. Rourke does not play in Thursday's finale at Las Vegas and Adrian Martinez takes the last game of the third quarterback competition. Shanahan also named Christian Kirk and Vederian Lowe as candidates to open the regular season on injured reserve, a designation that costs each of them at least the first four games and costs San Francisco a roster spot on Sunday; said Dominick Puni is most likely back in the concussion protocol; put Nick Bosa, Jacob Cowing, Upton Stout and Mike Evans back at practice next week rather than this one; and left the left guard job to Connor Colby and Carver Willis with Robert Jones hurt. The club signed defensive lineman Jah Joyner on Thursday morning and placed Victor Dimukeje on injured reserve to make room.

Sam KezarAug 27, 20263 min read
Kurtis Rourke Has Three Broken Ribs And Does Not Play Tonight

More on Jordan James

His page →
Preseason Takeaways

Five Rookies Started And The Kicker Scored All Eighteen Points

The 49ers beat the Raiders 18-12 at Allegiant Stadium on Thursday night. Eddy Pineiro made all six of his field goals and scored every point San Francisco scored; neither team reached the end zone. The official game book lists five rookies in the starting lineup, three on offense: Carver Willis at left guard, Enrique Cruz Jr. at left tackle and Kaelon Black at running back. Cruz played all 61 offensive snaps and rookie safety Jalen Stroman played all 66 on defense. Jaden Dugger led the team with ten tackles, Jordan James played his first snaps of the preseason and drew a penalty that wiped out a touchdown, and Jordan Watkins ran, caught and returned. The roster is due at 53 on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. PT.

Sam KezarAug 28, 20265 min read
Five Rookies Started And The Kicker Scored All Eighteen Points
Camp Battles

Jordan James And Kaelon Black Have Eight Preseason Carries Between Them

San Francisco opened camp with a two-man competition to back up Christian McCaffrey. Across two preseason games Kaelon Black has carried the ball eight times and Jordan James has not carried it at all, because one had an adductor injury and the other a fractured rib. Sincere McCormick, a third-year back outside the projected 53, leads the team with 16 carries for 91 yards. One practice and one game remain before the roster is due Sunday.

Sam KezarAug 24, 20264 min read
Jordan James And Kaelon Black Have Eight Preseason Carries Between Them
Camp Notebook

Both Of The 49ers' Outside Cornerbacks Missed The Same Practice

The 49ers announced shoulder injuries for cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling on Saturday, calling both day-to-day, and Renardo Green did not practice two days after the hamstring that took him out of the Chargers game. Jordan James practiced for the first time this camp, and Dominick Puni and C.J. West cleared the concussion protocol. Nick Bosa and Christian McCaffrey were not in a session Kyle Shanahan had described them as on track for. Eight days to the cutdown, and nothing crossed the line on the 53-man tracker.

Sam KezarAug 22, 20263 min read
Both Of The 49ers' Outside Cornerbacks Missed The Same Practice

On the record

Called Shots →
OpenAug 1, 2026

On 2026-09-10, at least three of the wide receivers on San Francisco's active roster are men the 49ers' own roster page lists at age 30 or older. Method, fixed in advance: read 49ers.com/team/players-roster on 2026-09-10, count the players listed at position WR on the active roster, and use the age the club's page states for each. Players on injured reserve, the practice squad or any reserve list do not count.

The room on 2026-08-01 lists five receivers at 30 or older by the club's own page: Mike Evans (32), Demarcus Robinson (31), Deebo Samuel Sr. (30), Trenton Irwin (30) and Malik Turner (30). Evans and Samuel are effectively decided, so this call turns on whether a third veteran holds a spot over Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins or De'Zhaun Stribling. It is not a formality in either direction: the 49ers spent the 33rd pick and two roster spots on receivers under 26, and the honest case against my own call is that Robinson, Irwin and Turner are all special-teams and depth arguments rather than offensive ones. This grades the piece's thesis, that a room built to answer a durability history with age keeps having to answer it with more age.