Nick Bosa to miss third straight 49ers game but comeback is imminent

SANTA CLARA – Defensive end Nick Bosa is excited about his comeback plan, one that should get him back into the 49ers’ lineup before their Week 8 bye.

Bosa envisions a possible return by the 49ers’ next home game, on Monday, Oct. 19, against the Washington Commanders. Otherwise, he plans to play Oct. 25 at the Atlanta Falcons, the 49ers’ final game before their bye.

Two weeks ago, Bosa strained his left calf while warming up for practice, and he will miss his third straight game Sunday when the 49ers (4-0) play at the Seattle Seahawks (3-1).

“I’m already feeling I can go out on Monday night … definitely (returning for) Atlanta, possibly next week. Probably,” Bosa said at his locker Friday.

Bosa has not practiced in two weeks but he began feeling all right a few days ago. The running drills he’s doing twice a day are similar to the shorter, less dangerous methods he employed in August as he overcame tendinitis in his surgically repaired right knee.

He will not travel with the 49ers to Seattle on Saturday and instead plans on squeezing in a couple more workouts, with designs on practicing next week.

“The calf has been similar because it’s been on the junction point, between the gastrocnemius and, what is the other calf muscle, oh, the soleus,” Bosa said. “But the knee is feeling amazing.”

Bosa, a five-time Pro Bowler and the NFL’s 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, did not have a sack in the 49ers’ first two games but did draw rave reviews from his coaches.

“The first game I was looking out for (the knee); I’m not going to lie. The second game I was feeling great,” Bosa added.

WILLIAMS IN, OKORNKWO OUT

Defensive end Mykel Williams, coach Kyle Shanahan said, will be activated Saturday off the Physically Unable to Perform list, 343 days after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against the host New York Giants last Nov. 2.

Williams credited Bosa with helping in his ACL recovery, as Bosa had nearly a two-month start on his own. “I’m sure he’s still getting his feet under him but he’s leaner and says he likes that,” Bosa said.

Presumably to make room for Williams, the 49ers released fellow defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo, who had one sack and two tackles while playing 39% of the defensive snaps.

SOUND OF SUCCESS

The 49ers know the secret to silencing Seattle’s famed amphitheater of Lumen Field.

“If we go out there and make plays, you’ll be able to hear a pin drop. It’s really on us,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “That’s probably the hardest environment in the league to play in.”

Last visit didn’t go so well. But it wasn’t so much the Seattle sound as it was everything else. As bad as the 41-6 divisional-round blowout was for the exhausted 49ers, they remarkably avoided Lumen Field’s hallmark for visiting teams: a false start penalty.

The 49ers’ offense didn’t jump once that game, unlike every other visit since 2020. The Seahawks proudly claim that opponents have committed an NFL-high 307 false-start penalties since 2002.

“It’s as bad as it gets, as loud of a place you can go,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.

Running back Christian McCaffrey confirmed that the 49ers’ offense hasn’t resorted to a silent count yet this season. So the 49ers practiced it throughout this week.

“It gets better as the week goes, got better today, and I expect it even better on Sunday,” Shanahan said.

The Seahawks have won nine straight home games, last losing in Week 5 last year to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 49ers claimed a season-opening win there – despite false-start penalties on tight end Luke Farrell and right tackle Colton McKivitz.

“If you’re a competitor, you live for these type of environments,” Williams said. “We know that the stadium is only going to do what we allow them to do. If we give them momentum, it’ll be as loud as you want them to be.”

STATUS REPORTS

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk (knee) and safety Marques Sigle (ankle) are out, and missing a third straight game will be Bosa and fellow defensive lineman James Thompson Jr. (ankle).

Cornerback Upton Stout (shoulder) is questionable; he did not practice Wednesday or Friday.

No injury designation was given to wide receiver Mike Evans, whose injured ribs didn’t keep him out last game. After working on the side Thursday and not practicing, he participated Friday.

The Seahawks also didn’t give an injury designation to defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who didn’t practice Thursday because of an ankle injury suffered last Sunday. They ruled out safety Julian Neal (hamstring), linebacker Chazz Surratt (calf) and running back Zach Charbonnet (knee); questionable are running back George Holani and wide receiver Irvin Charles.