Nick Bosa Was Limited In Melbourne And The Only Man Who Did Not Practice Was An Undrafted Rookie

San Francisco practiced Tuesday morning in Melbourne, which was Monday night in the Bay Area, and the participation list inverted. At the first practice of the week, two of the club's eight captains did no drills in front of reporters. At the second, both did, and the only man anybody counted as missing was an undrafted rookie.

Matt Barrows, at The Athletic, filing at 3:43 a.m. Pacific: "Rookie DT James Thompson Jr., who is dealing with a hamstring strain, was the only 49er not taking part at the start of today's practice. George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Christian McCaffrey, Mike Evans, Renardo Green were all on hand." Matt Maiocco, at NBC Sports Bay Area, one minute earlier: "Nick Bosa was back at practice Tuesday here in Melbourne. It looked as if the 49ers had a full squad out there, including RB Christian McCaffrey and TE George Kittle."

Both men are describing the portion open to the media. Reporters leave before team drills begin, and Barrows is careful to say "at the start of today's practice." What any of these players did after the gates closed is not public.

The club's own count: nine limited, one out#

San Francisco filed the first official participation report of its season at about 3:10 p.m. Pacific, and it covers this practice. Eleven men are on it.

James Thompson Jr. is the only one who did not participate. Nine were limited: Nick Bosa and Alfred Collins with knees, Luke Gifford and Renardo Green with hamstrings, Dre Greenlaw and George Kittle with Achilles injuries, Gracen Halton and Romello Height with ankles, and Kyle Juszczyk with a finger. Cornerback Upton Stout, back from an Achilles injury of his own, was the only full participant on the page.

That is a narrower document than the morning looked. Barrows had Kittle, Bosa, McCaffrey, Evans and Green all on hand, and Maiocco thought it looked like a full squad. Being on hand and being a full participant are different claims, and the club made the second one about exactly one man.

Two names are worth reading for what is absent. Christian McCaffrey carries no designation at all, which is the plainest thing the club has said about him this week. And the defensive line the front office patched all summer has five men on the report: Bosa, Collins, Halton and Height limited, Thompson Jr. out.

Morris stopped hedging#

Asked whether the club expects Bosa to play this week, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris did not qualify the answer. "He's going out there," Morris said. "Whatever you want to say, he's going. He'll be there. We're not hiding that." David Bonilla at 49ers Webzone carried the quote on Monday at 9:01 p.m. Pacific, from the coordinators' availability that preceded the practice. Harrison Rich of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the same thing independently, and ESPN's injury page logs it as Morris saying Monday that Bosa will play Thursday.

That is a change in kind rather than degree. Bosa sat out most of training camp with tendinitis in the right knee he had surgically repaired after tearing the ACL last September, and through camp the club's public position was that it was managing him day to day. A coordinator saying "we're not hiding that" two days before a season opener is the club declining to keep the option open.

The one absence, and where he sits#

James Thompson Jr. is not a bystander on this defensive line. He is on the active roster, and the depth chart at 49ers.com lists him third at right defensive tackle behind Alfred Collins and Gracen Halton. San Francisco patched that room all summer: it signed Khalid Kareem to the active roster on Sept. 4 and put Sam Okuayinonu on injured reserve the same day, placed Victor Dimukeje on injured reserve on Aug. 27, and has cycled linemen through since July.

He is also the thread that has been loose for a week. Barrows listed six men back from injury at Monday's practice and Thompson Jr. was on neither that list nor the absentee list, and no Melbourne report named him in either direction until Tuesday. The hamstring is the first thing anyone has published about him since Sept. 2.

Los Angeles arrives without Aaron Donald#

Los Angeles will open without Aaron Donald. Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that Donald will not travel to Australia and will be inactive, with the Rams giving him more time to build up after two seasons retired. The participation report still carries his name, as a limited participant resting, because that document records a practice rather than a flight manifest.

The Rams listed five non-participants, and the one that matters most on Thursday is Myles Garrett, with a knee. Tyler Higbee, Alaric Jackson and Byron Young were all down as rested, and cornerback Jaylen Watson has a toe. Grant Stuard was limited with a hamstring.

Kittle, back from a torn Achilles, was in full uniform Tuesday local time, per Nick Wagoner at ESPN, as was McCaffrey. The club's report has Kittle limited, which is the first designation anyone outside the building has had on him this season.

Transactions#

No move was processed Tuesday. Victor Dimukeje came off the club's injured reserve list, five days after his injury settlement was first reported and while 49ers.com still carried him; that list now holds eleven. The active roster is 53 by name, the practice squad 17, and two men are on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list. The club also refiled the five practice-squad players its roster page had scattered under other headings since Sept. 1, so all seventeen now appear under Practice Squad. The public depth chart has not moved since Sept. 4 and still lists Okuayinonu at left end and Brayden Willis at tight end.

Kickoff is Thursday at 5:35 p.m. Pacific at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is Friday morning in Australia.