Edge rusher Nick Bosa's rare OTA appearance invigorates 49ers
49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa is making a rare organized team activities appearance this offseason.
The former defensive player of the year usually spends this time of year training in Florida before returning to Santa Clara for mandatory work.
"I love Nick being around, love him getting a chance to do football with the guys and stuff," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. "Nick's first year here, after the Super Bowl, his first offseason, we had COVID. The next year, after the offseason, torn ACL. And the year after that, he was in contract stuff. I believe that's right.
"And then this is the first year that kind of [has] just been a totally normal year. And I think the one year that it was like that, he came to a few OTAs; didn't come to all of them. But he didn't just come in minicamp. So, I'm glad he's here the first week, and hopefully, he'll continue."
The 49ers practiced without running back Christian McCaffrey and receivers Jauan Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk on Tuesday, but quarterback Brock Purdy said Bosa's presence in the voluntary work meant a lot to his teammates.
"You tell it means something to him, and to show up, phase three, practicing on the field, it's pretty special," Purdy said. "So for all of us to see that, it's like, 'All right, [if] Bosa's taking it serious, then we all should.' But regardless, being out on the field, giving our guys looks, the offensive line looks, and for myself, pocket movement, all that kind of stuff, it's huge. You can't get enough reps of it.
"But for him to be back in the building around the guys, it means a lot. And so it makes all of us excited to start rolling for the season."
