SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After star defensive end Nick Bosa left Sunday’s win against the Arizona Cardinals because of a knee injury, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said it was too soon to rule out any potential outcome.
Though Shanahan indicated that the initial tests on the sideline didn’t show a torn ACL, Shanahan made it clear that the potential for a serious injury still exists as Bosa’s knee undergoes further testing in the next 24 hours.
“They haven’t ruled [an ACL injury] out,” Shanahan said. “We’re not sure. There is concern because of how he feels. They do the test and stuff on the sideline and usually they say whether he definitely did or not and they didn’t say that, but we are concerned with that. Keeping our fingers crossed for the MRI.”
Bosa’s injury was the latest price to pay for a Niners team that has seemed to trade healthy players for victories in each of the first three weeks of the season. The 49ers lost tight end George Kittle (hamstring) and quarterback Brock Purdy (toe) in Week 1 and then wideout Jauan Jennings (shoulder, ankle) and left guard Ben Bartch (ankle) in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints.
On Sunday, it was Bosa who departed with about a minute left in the first quarter. On the play, Bosa was rushing Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray from the left side and engaged with left tackle Kelvin Beachum when Cardinals guard Evan Brown came over for the double team and knocked Bosa to the ground.
Bosa’s right knee appeared to bend awkwardly as he went down and Murray’s pass fell incomplete. Bosa walked slowly to the sideline, where the Niners’ training staff began treating his injury while Bosa was on his back.
After a few moments, Bosa walked to the blue medical tent, where he remained for about five minutes before emerging. He spent the next couple of minutes doing some stretching and high knees but eventually made his way to the locker room.
The television broadcast spotted Bosa giving a thumbs down as he ambled to the locker room. Soon after, the team ruled out a potential return after Bosa was initially listed as questionable.
Mykel Williams, Bryce Huff, Yetur Gross-Matos and Sam Okuayinonu divvied up the remaining defensive end snaps with Bosa, who had 2 sacks, 8 pressures, 15 tackles and a 21.9% pass rush win rate in the first two weeks, remained in the locker room.
Okuayinonu finished with seven tackles while Williams chipped in two, including one for loss and a quarterback hit.
“I feel like the whole D-line room said, ‘We got to step it up,'” Williams said of when Bosa left the game. “Bosa is a great player for us and he holds a heavy load so when we lose him, everybody has got to raise their game.”
But Bosa’s injury undoubtedly hit the Niners hard. Even as the 49ers’ offense was driving for kicker Eddy Pineiro‘s winning 35-yard field goal in a 16-15 win over the Cardinals, left tackle Trent Williams couldn’t help but wonder about Bosa’s injury status and what it could mean for the long haul.
“Anytime you lose a guy like Nick and he doesn’t come back and his status is unknown, it’s a real buzzkill,” Williams said. “I can honestly say that going down on the drive to win the game, I thought about Nick plenty of times out there in the huddle. I’m just hoping, praying that he gets some good news.”
