Talanoa Hufanga has not played a snap for the San Francisco 49ers in a little under a year.

The All-Pro safety missed out on playing in Super Bowl 58 for San Francisco after suffering a torn ACL in the 49ers' Week 11 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last November. 

Hufanga also missed his target of returning by Week 1 of this season, but he is finally set to make his comeback, having returned to full practice ahead of the Niners' Week 3 meeting with the Los Angeles Rams.

Some rust is to be anticipated after such a long time away for the 2022 first-team All-Pro, but that doesn't appear to be something that defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen is expecting.

While he missed the first two games of the season, Hufanga has worked with the 49ers' scout team, and Sorensen believes that experience and the mental reps he has taken while watching from the sideline will allow the 2021 fifth-round pick to slot seamlessly into the defense as he returns to likely start next to Ji'Ayir Brown at safety.

"He’s an All-Pro player. He is someone with a lot of experience," Sorensen said on Thursday. "He’s got great energy, he’s a great communicator, he flies around the field, he makes plays. You just, you get a complete player and I think he’s really excited too."

Asked how Hufanga has been during his long road back to the field, Sorensen replied: "He’s been great. These last, as he started to ramp up and get into practice, I think he’s just been more connected. Like you say, you can feel disconnected, but he makes sure that he’s right there. In walkthrough, he’ll shadow whoever’s in, so he is getting himself those actual reps and making sure that you hear him on the side, making all the calls that he’d be making as if he was actually in the game. 

"That’s really what you want everyone to do. If you’re not getting the rep, you should get a mental rep. He was fully in it. If you can do that, you basically steal reps when you’re not actually out there. Obviously, you need the physical reps, but when you can mentally make those calls, put yourself in the play at that time, you are getting better and you are putting yourself into those plays and you’re reacting as it’s happening rather than just maybe seeing it on tape. 

"It’s just different when you’re out there and it’s not expected. And he did a good job of that. So he was totally preparing himself to be ready."

Sorensen added that the impact of the mental preparation Hufanga put himself through has been apparent as he has returned to full practice.

"It’s like he hasn’t missed a beat. And like I said, he was getting some of those look-team reps too," said Sorensen. "Anytime if you’re not getting our actual reps for the defense and you’re kind of on that look team, you try and do the same thing. As you’re going through them, what part of this can translate to how we play defense? Well, a lot of it can. 

"There might be some different coverages or something like that, that may be different. But if you translate that to what you’re doing, and that goes for any practice squad player, you should, you’re trying to steal reps and prepare yourself for the chance to play because it is a long season and a lot of guys end up playing.”

Hufanga might be seen as getting a soft landing on Sunday as the 49ers face a Rams offense shorn of their top playmakers in Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua because of injury. However, with Matthew Stafford quarterbacking the Rams and Kyren Williams in the backfield for Los Angeles, it is key that Hufanga vindicates Sorensen's eye-catching praise and ensures he is quickly back to his best.

Brock Purdy critiques his Week 2 performance, rejects narrative around Brandon Aiyuk and 49ers receivers

He accepts it wasn’t good enough.