49ers coming to grips with the ‘Bosa Buzzkill’ ahead of Jaguars’ visit

SANTA CLARA – Sympathy for Nick Bosa is still sweeping through the 49ers’ locker room, three days after the star defensive end sustained a season-ending knee injury.

The harsh reality of the NFL: On to the next game, Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“It’s pretty sad, but we’ve got a game on Sunday. It’s tough. It’s tough,” defensive end Sam Okuayinonu said.

“It hasn’t been brought up. It’s not to say it’s not important. It’s just what is that going to help us this week,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “We’re already on to Jacksonville and finding the keys to victory.”

Coach Kyle Shanahan also balked at addressing his team about Bosa’s void.

“No, everyone knows about it. You don’t make it more than it is,” Shanahan said before Wednesday’s practice. “I’m not going to sit here and say something and make it better. Everyone knows the deal. We have to focus on what we’ve got to get done.”

Doing it without Bosa is, in the words of left tackle Trent Williams after Sunday’s 16-15 win over Arizona, a “buzzkill” even on a 3-0 team.

Okuayinonu and Bryce Huff both felt worse for Bosa than the greater opportunities each will get along with rookie starter Mykel Williams.

“It’s not excitement,” Huff said. “It’s the understanding I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.”

Added Okuayinonu: “Whenever you lose someone like Nick, that’s a lot of production. One person can’t replace Nick Bosa. As a unit and defensive line, we have to step our game up to the next level.”

That adheres to the next-man-up cliché that’s echoing through the 49ers locker room, to an extent.

Running back Christian McCaffrey put a different spin on it, saying “the vibes have been pretty urgent” but that doesn’t necessarily add weight on the 49ers offense: “It’s weird when you have to say you’ve got to pick it up. Every one is giving their all, I promise that. … We’ve always got to step it up, whatever that means. We all have to execute.”

Bosa was off to a great start in his seventh season, producing a strip-sack fumble that secured the Week 1 win at Seattle, following with another sack in Week 2 at New Orleans, and showing his run-game hustle with a forced fumble before limping to the sideline after the second defensive series Sunday. Shanahan hopes Bosa can still provide leadership and mentorship upon returning in a month or so after surgery in Los Angeles, where his left ACL was repaired five years ago by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

“He’s got a lot more wisdom than people realize. They call him like the audio book because that’s how he sounds when he talks,” Shanahan said. “But he plans on being around.”

Shanahan said Bosa was “addament” he tore his ACL despite a sideline diagnosis suggesting otherwise, until a Monday MRI confirmed it.

“Losing Nick is a big deal. That’s one of the best players not just on our team but on the planet,”  Warner said. “We have to continue to find ways to create those pressures. He was obviously great for us in the run and the pass, we have to fill the void.”

This is Bosa’s third ACL tear, having endured it to the same right knee his senior year in high school. He tore his left knee’s ACL in 2020. “There’s zero worry or correlation between the three,” Shanahan said. “They say this was as clean as any. They’ve all been five years apart.”

The only immediate moves in response to Bosa’s exit were Wednesday’s promotion of 2023 fifth-round pick Robert Beal Jr. back to the 53-man roster and filling his spot on the practice squad with William Bradley-King, who was on the preseason roster.

PEARSALL’S KNEE, FAMOUS FAN

Ricky Pearsall did not practice on Wednesday, more so as a precaution after feeling soreness after the game and later that night. “I’m not really concerned, but I just want to check it out a bit,” Pearsall said. “It’s just soreness. If there was a game today, I’d play.”

Adding to that claim, Pearsall said he’s looking forward to a matchup with Jaguars’ first round pick Travis Hunter, who plays both cornerback and wide receiver.

One person who’s admired Pearsall (16 catches) is Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. “He has body control and he’s going to get open,” Young told KNBR 680-AM. “It’s not explosive and it’s not like he comes out of the gate: ‘Oh watch out.’ But he really understands the spacial relationships on the field.”

Young described that as “a knack” shared by former 49ers stars Jerry Rice, Brent Jones and John Taylor. “Ricky, as a quarterback (view), he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be and he’s going to find that space especially against zone,” Young added.

PRACTICE UPDATE

Quarterbacks Brock Purdy (toe) and Mac Jones (knee) were limited in practice. Purdy was limited last week before Jones made his second start and subsequently aggravated a month-old knee sprain.

Not practicing other than Pearsall were Trent Williams (rest), Christian McCaffrey (rest); wide receivers Pearsall, Jauan Jennings (ankle, shoulder) and Jordan Watkins (calf); defensive tackle C.J. West (thumb) and defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (knee).

Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson returned from a three-game suspension. “Love getting D-Rob back. He was great for us this summer,” Shanahan said. “He’s been around the building the last couple weeks, so it’s been good to have him in here and excited to see him out at practice.”

JAGUARS’ VIEW

Jaguars’ first-year coach Liam Coen, who beat out 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for the gig, is a distant admirer of the 49ers’ grit. “They’re 3-0 with the injuries they’ve had, and that speaks so much to the culture, the way they operate, the way they practice,” Coen told Jacksonville reporters Wednesday.

Coen noted the 49ers’ defensive front is “still a challenge,” specifically because of Huff’s speed rush off the edge and Williams’s versatile presence as a “big dude” (6-foot-5, 267 pounds) who is “violent” in matchups and fits the 49ers’ scheme as an every-down player.

As for the 49ers’ quarterback injuries, Coen sees Purdy (toe) and Jones (knee) in differing styles. On Purdy, Coen said: “He’s off schedule, he can make plays, can escape. Keeps his eyes downfield really well , and if nothing’s there, he’ll take off and go a little bit.”

ROSTER MOVES

Beal returned to the 53-man roster, via the practice squad, after producing just one sack in 18 games the previous two seasons. Bradley-King worked out Tuesday to earn his return onto the practice squad, having spent two weeks on the 49ers in the preseason. Safety Jaylen Mahoney also returned to the practice squad while Derrick Canteen was released in a corresponding move.