San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa will suit up Thursday against the Los Angeles Rams in the season opener in Australia. 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris spoke to reporters and confirmed it: “he’s going to play, we are not hiding that.”

On the offensive side of the ball, OC Klay Kubiak also shared some positive news. TE George Kittle is looking good to go as well. 

Look, this is massive for San Francisco. The 49ers have been banged up all throughout training camp. Bosa and Kittle were a rarity in that their injuries were sustained last season. Bosa tore his ACL on September 21st against the Cardinals, marking nearly a year since he’s been out. Kittle, on the other hand, suffered his achilles injury in the Wildcard round of the playoffs.

No matter what it looks like in the season opener, this is great news. 

San Francisco’s defensive front has been decimated

The 49ers are thin at defensive end beyond Bosa. Sam Okuayinonu was just placed on the injured reserve list, and Mykel Williams is on the PUP list. That’s two defensive ends who would normally be in the rotation playing significant snaps, and both are going to miss time early in the season.

San Francisco desperately needed Bosa back, and now they’re going to get him.

Could Bosa be on a snap count? 100%. He has also experienced some tendonitis stemming from his ACL recovery, which the team didn’t really foresee happening. General manager John Lynch discussed that development. 

The other three defensive ends currently active on the 53-man roster outside of Bosa are Keion White, rookie Romello Height, and Khalid Kareem. Kareem signed a one-year deal after the team placed Okuayinonu on injured reserve. 

I wouldn’t expect Bosa to play the full 60-ish defensive snaps the 49ers run in Week 1 against the Rams. We’ll likely see the other three get more time.

But this is a team that has been brutally banged up and desperately needs to get healthy. Getting Bosa back is a key component to that.

George Kittle’s process is likely the same

I would imagine that Kittle will go through a similar re-acclimation period as Bosa will. It’s hard to expect guys coming off those injuries to play 100% of the snaps in Week 1, regardless of how good they may feel. Much credit to Kittle and his support system as coming back from a torn achilles in this amount of time is no small feat.

Seeing both of those guys back out on the field will be excellent for the entire organization and fanbase. We all know the 49ers are better with them on the field, even if they’re less than 100%. 

Kittle has certainly been the heartbeat of the 49ers offensive unit during Kyle Shanahan’s time in San Francisco. He can do it all at tight end as he’s consistently been one of the best blockers at the position. Not to forget that he has also posted multiple 1,000 yard seasons and is incredible after the catch. 

A divisional showdown Down Under

This should be a fun one. A divisional showdown in Australia is certainly a different thing for the NFL this year, being a new international site on the league calendar. I certainly understand the frustration that Kyle Shanahan has shown at times. No one wants to play a divisional game on a different continent.

One thing is for sure though, he’ll definitely be feeling better now. With Nick Bosa and George Kittle being able to take part in the opener, the 49ers certainly have a fighting chance to take down the Super Bowl favorites.