Nick Bosa, the defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers, has seldom included organised team activities in his offseason schedule for a variety of reasons.
There have been very few late-May sightings of Bosa in Santa Clara, maybe due to COVID-19 closing out such activities in 2020, his left knee’s ruptured ACL in 2021, or his protracted contract holdout in 2023.
Because of this, teammates and coaches of the Niners have taken notice of his attendance at this year’s voluntary proceedings.
Quarterback Brock Purdy remarked, “To show up Phase 3, practicing on the field, it’s pretty special.” “For all of us to see that, it’s like ‘All right, if Bosa is taking it serious, then we all should.'”
The fact that Bosa returned sooner than usual is not by accident. There are no pandemics or major injury recoveries. And shortly before the previous season began, he inked a five-year, $170 million contract that elevated him to the position of highest-paid defender in the league.
Despite Bosa feeling that he excelled in run defense and had similar pressure numbers in 2023 compared to 2022, his performance as a pass rusher wasn’t as successful. His pass rush win rate decreased from 20.9% to 18.6%, causing his ranking among edge rushers to drop. He also had a significant drop in sack totals and sacks created. Bosa attributed some of these issues to mental strain from contract negotiations and a lack of support from teammates. The increased double-teams he faced in 2023 added to his challenges. Coach Kocurek believes Bosa will improve with more practice and facing tough opponents like Trent.
