Nick Bosa practices, George Kittle progressing as 49ers jet to Australia

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa participated in practice Wednesday for the first time since a season-ending ACL injury last September, joining tight end George Kittle on the field.

“It was a long road,” Bosa said. “I kind of ramped it a little too fast with the football stuff a month ago. They kind of told me to back off. I’ve just been trying to get it as strong and as confident as I could in myself so I could rip the band-aid off. Once you get into team (workouts) there’s no reservations. There’s no compensating here, no governor, so I felt that today. I remember my last ACL (recovery) and you just have to go. You hope for the best. You hope your body is going to respond the way you want it to. It was a great day.”

Kittle, 32, was activated from the physically unable to perform list on Aug. 23 following his recovery from a torn right Achilles sustained in a Jan. 11 wild-card playoff win against the Philadelphia Eagles.

He practiced consecutive days with the 49ers, who are traveling to Australia Wednesday for next week’s season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Week 1 contest in Melbourne takes place next Thursday night.

Despite the considerable time difference, the Rams are not planning to leave for the international trek until next Wednesday.

Kittle had 57 receptions for 628 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games last season. The seven-time Pro Bowl selection has 595 career catches for 8,008 yards and 52 TDs in 124 games (116 starts) with San Francisco. He has four 1,000-yard seasons.

Bosa, 28, did not practice during most of training camp while recovering from a torn right ACL suffered last September. He had two sacks and 17 tackles in three starts prior to the injury.

A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Bosa has recorded 64.5 sacks, 168 quarterback hits, 278 tackles, two interceptions and 13 forced fumbles in 85 games (83 starts) since the 49ers drafted him No. 2 overall in 2019.

–Field Level Media