The San Francisco 49ers will have defensive end Nick Bosa and tight end George Kittle back from significant injuries for their Week 1 matchup Thursday against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia. Neither player carried a game designation on the team's final injury report of the week, making their returns official Wednesday night.
Bosa has been working back from a torn right anterior cruciate ligament suffered in Week 3 last season, while Kittle has recovered from a torn right Achilles tendon suffered in January. Both were listed as limited in all three practices this week and coach Kyle Shanahan said the team will have to be smart with their workloads, though he said both players look great.
Kittle tore the Achilles in an NFC wild-card game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 11. He returned to practice a couple of weeks ago from the physically unable to perform list. Quarterback Brock Purdy said it feels really good to have Kittle back, calling him a Hall of Fame-caliber player.
Bosa started training camp on the roster and not on PUP, but practiced only a few days before soreness and tendinitis in the patellar tendon sent him back to the sideline. He practiced in full for the first time since the torn ACL on Sept. 2 and made it through this week without issues. Bosa said he is 100% ready to go for the first game.
On the Niners' final injury report, defensive tackle Alfred Collins is out after tearing a patellar tendon in practice this week, and rookie defensive tackle James Thompson Jr. is questionable with a hamstring issue.
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