49ers Camp — Sep 3: Bosa Practiced and Got on the Plane

Nick Bosa practiced on Wednesday, September 2. That is the whole first sentence because it has been a month coming: it was his first practice with his teammates since August 3, he did it in a knee sleeve, and he took part in the open portion of the session, per David Bonilla at 49ers Webzone. "Big day for Nick today," John Lynch said, per Tim Kawakami at the San Francisco Standard. Ian Rapoport reported that both Bosa and George Kittle would make the trip to Australia — Bosa ramping up with the knee, Kittle "trending in the right direction to play" after two positive practice days — per Bonilla, and the team flew out Wednesday after its final practice, per Kawakami. Our last episode left the pass rush as one formal absence and one open question. The open question got on the plane.

Now the roster underneath it — the initial 53, as set Sunday. Matt Maiocco's breakdown at NBC Sports Bay Area has six receivers on it: Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, Demarcus Robinson, Jordan Watkins, Jacob Cowing and De'Zhaun Stribling. Three quarterbacks. And the interior line got its insurance policy: Jarrett Patterson, acquired from Houston for a 2027 seventh-round pick — Tom Pelissero had the trade first, per David Bonilla, and the team announced it Monday with the compensation. Kyle Shanahan's read, per David Lombardi at the Standard: "We love that he has some flex at center and guard."

The reserve lists tell the rest of Sunday. Christian Kirk with a calf and Austen Pleasants with a knee went to injured reserve with the designation to return; Brett Toth, with a concussion, and Nick Zakelj went to injured reserve without one — Bonilla reported both as season-ending. Isaac Guerendo with the pectoral and Mykel Williams with the knee ligament went to the reserve physically-unable-to-perform list, which rules both out for at least the first four games, per Bonilla. Lynch, on Williams: "It's going to stink not having him for the first four weeks, but we'll have him the rest of the year in really good fashion, we believe, if we allow him the necessary time," per Brooke Evans at 49ers.com.

Then Monday, and the part our last episode could only hedge on. We told you Corliss Waitman and Jon Weeks were cut on paper with the expectation they'd be re-signed once the mechanics cleared. Both came back, by different doors: Waitman on a one-year contract, per Myles Simmons at Pro Football Talk, and Weeks on the practice squad, per Tristi Rodriguez at NBC Sports Bay Area. Ashtyn Davis, whom we listed among the released, was also re-signed to a one-year deal, per 49ers.com. The corresponding moves sent cornerback Nate Hobbs with a groin injury and linebacker Nick Martin with a hamstring to injured reserve, per Simmons. The same day, six players came off the injury lists: Dominick Puni, Vederian Lowe, Upton Stout, Malik Mustapha, Kyle Juszczyk and Kurtis Rourke, per Lombardi. One word from our last episode gets corrected on the page: we said Robert Jones was waived, per Rapoport; the team's own release lists him among the released.

Where the cuts landed is the part of cutdown almost nobody covers, so here it is. Two 49ers were claimed off waivers, both defenders. Darrell Luter Jr., the cornerback San Francisco drafted 155th overall in 2023, drew claims from five teams — the Raiders, Titans, Dolphins, Cowboys and Colts — and went to Las Vegas, which held the top waiver priority, per Jordan Dajani at CBS Sports, who reported that as the most interest any cut player drew on this waiver run. Bryson Eason, the rookie defensive tackle, went to Kansas City on Monday, per Josh Alper at Pro Football Talk. A third landed on a practice squad: safety Derrick Canteen, with Tennessee, per Jim Wyatt at the Titans' site. The veterans released Sunday — Eli Apple, Malik Turner, Brandon Parker among them — were on no roster as of Wednesday.

The practice squad is where the rest of Sunday's cuts went. The team announced 13 on Monday, per Tristi Rodriguez at NBC Sports Bay Area: long snapper Jon Weeks, edge rusher Ogbo Okoronkwo and receiver KhaDarel Hodge among the veterans who took practice-squad deals rather than leave, running back Sincere McCormick back the same way, offensive lineman Isaac Alarcón on the International Pathway designation, and a run of the younger players cut Sunday — linebacker Jalen Graham, center Drake Nugent, cornerback Jakob Robinson, defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez among them. Four more on Tuesday, per 49ers.com: defensive lineman Vincent Anthony Jr. off Kansas City's cuts, offensive lineman Foster Sarell, cornerback Brandon Codrington off Houston's cuts, and defensive lineman Kevin Givens. Givens is the one to notice — seven seasons and 70 games as a 49er before the team waived him on August 5, and now back in the building, per 49ers Webzone. Codrington is the other: a Pro Football Writers All-Rookie returner in 2024, per Bonilla, and — with receiver Jacob Cowing working on the side at Monday's practice — a possible Week 1 punt returner, per Patrick Holloway at Niners Nation. 17 on the practice squad as of Tuesday, by the team's own announcements. Lynch, on the logistics of building one for a team leaving the country: "I've never asked a potential practice squad signee, 'do you have a passport?'" — per Lombardi.

Back in July we previewed San Francisco as a 12-win team our data wouldn't vouch for. The 12 wins were real — 12 five, a wild-card seed — but they came with 20 sacks, 30-second in the league, and a defense that ranked 20-fourth in expected points added allowed per play — how much each snap moved the opponent's expected score. All August the offense kept stacking evidence — sixth in offensive expected points added per play last season, and now a left guard, a backfield and encouraging Kittle news — while the pass rush's two cornerstones spent nearly the whole month off the practice field. Cut day made that split formal: Williams on the shelf for four games. This week moved the other half. Bosa practiced. Okoronkwo is on the practice squad, not in another building. The July worry is still the July worry, and for the first time since early August it has an edge rusher on the practice field standing on the other side of it.

Next is the Rams, Thursday, September 10, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground — a neutral site, half a world from Santa Clara. What to watch: whether Bosa and Kittle are on the field when the ball is kicked, and who lines up at left guard — asked Monday, Shanahan said "Don't know yet. It's truly fluid," per Evans. The Recap follows the game.

_Data via nflverse._