San Francisco 49ers' Nick Bosa takes an unusual step in his preparations for the 2024 season
Nick Bosa typically does not set foot on the practice field until the mandatory portion of the San Francisco 49ers' offseason program. That is not the case this year. The 49ers' star defensive end, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area and The Athletic's Matt Barrows, reported for the start of their organised team […]
Nick Bosa typically does not set foot on the practice field until the mandatory portion of the San Francisco 49ers' offseason program.
That is not the case this year.
The 49ers' star defensive end, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area and The Athletic's Matt Barrows, reported for the start of their organised team activities on Monday.
There are a couple of likely reasons for Bosa taking what, for him, is an unusual step. First, his usual training partner in Florida, older brother Joey, has reported for the start of the Los Angeles Chargers OTAs.
Bosa, though, could have significant motivation for turning up earlier than usual.
The 2022 Defensive Player of the Year did not sign a contract extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL until the week of the 49ers' 2023 season-opening win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, meaning he missed an entire offseason of practices.
And Bosa conceded in the wake of the 49ers' Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that his holdout had an impact on his production.
"I think it did, both mentally and performance-wise, just not having practice," Bosa told reporters. "I think my hands kind of get going, once I start using them a lot it kind of takes time to get the timing down and that's the biggest thing with practice.
"Just the stress of having that [the contract] looming and the pressure initially once you get it, I kind of worked through all that later in the year, I started to feel better and I think I was playing my best ball towards the end."
By getting on the field as early as possible, Bosa will have ample opportunity to fine tune his devastating skill set ahead of the new season. San Francisco's biggest defensive star will be determined to bounce back from what, by his standards, was an underwhelming individual season he ended with 10.5 sacks. Changing up his typical routine at this time of year could help him do just that.
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