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Kawakami: ‘How was Bosa?’ And other key 49ers questions on a major camp day

This 49ers camp is different than the last one under Kyle Shanahan. It had to be, too.

A man wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and beige cap speaks at a San Francisco 49ers press conference podium with a water bottle nearby.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks at a press conference following the San Francisco 49ers training camp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Thursday, August 7, 2025. | Source: Morgan Ellis/The Standard

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Brock Purdy was on the next field over from Nick Bosa's unit during Thursday's joint practice, with more than enough mayhem to occupy his mind and body as he and his offensive teammates jousted against the talented Denver Broncos defense.

He couldn't sneak a peek just t0 his right to see how Bosa and the 49ers' defense was doing in its own session versus the Denver offense. But Purdy probably could just feel the usual Bosa's-wrecking-things vibe. You go up against Bosa in your own practices enough times, you just know.

"When practice ended," Purdy said with a smile Thursday afternoon, "one of my first questions to one of the guys on defense was like, ‘How was Bosa?'"

Guaranteed answer: Bosa was amazing. Through the long session, Bosa flew into ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage, piled up two or three unofficial sacks of Bo Nix, and generally ruined a handful of Broncos plays all by himself. After being held out of the last few practices, likely in part to make sure he was ready to go full blast in this one, Bosa was ... Bosa.

If he's not ramping himself toward a potential career year, he's sure fooling me (and every Denver offensive player on the field on Thursday).

This undeniable conclusion was important on this day in two ways. First, it was happening while the 49ers' offense (and its banged up receiving corps) was, for at least a while, getting dominated by the Denver defense. The 49ers' offense isn't really built to score 30 points a game these days. They're going to need a dynamic, reliable top-12 defense to keep games from getting out of hand. You know, the kind of defense the 49ers had a few years ago.

And second, it was clear Thursday that there's a chance that the 49ers' young defensive players can fill major roles around Bosa and Fred Warner and help make this a top-12 defense. Or maybe eventually even top 10. Sorta like they had a few years ago.

Nick Bosa had a strong day against the Denver Broncos' offensive lien on Thursday. | Source: Morgan Ellis/The Standard

The 49ers sacrificed a lot of depth in their salary purge last offseason; they wouldn't be as desperate for healthy defensive linemen right now if they'd just kept Maliek Collins and Leonard Floyd last March. But it looks like the 49ers drafted well. The talent is obvious. Can their young players plug right in by Sept. 7 in Seattle?

It looked possible on Thursday. For the 49ers, that's an important thing to know.

"I think it is a new challenge that we're going through," Warner said after practice. "A lot of new faces out there on the defensive side. But man, I think we're ready for it. It now stresses how important every single day is in creating the championship defense that we want to create. I can't stress enough that you can't let a day slip by."

This was the most important day yet this camp. And it was the best one yet for second-round pick Alfred Collins, who looked much more dynamic in pass-rush drills than he had the first few weeks. It was another good one for fourth-round pick CJ West, who pushes blockers backwards every single snap.

Their raised status as a duo was made semi-official by their reps with the first-team defense as Thursday's session went on. West and Collins might not start the season as the first-team defensive tackles, but they're on their way there. Mostly, they're simply not wasting days some practices have been better than others, but the most important thing talented rookies can do is show the coaches and veterans that they'll be out there doing solid things every day.

A football player wearing a white jersey with red number 95 and a gold helmet stretches while a coach dressed in red stands behind him.
The 49ers will count on second-round draft pick Alfred Collins to make an immediate impact as a rookie. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard

There are other young players who seem to have already fought their way to rotation roles: the coaches are barely even trying to hide that third-round pick Upton Stout has a bead on the nickel cornerback spot and third-year linebacker Dee Winters has turned the supposed weak-side linebacker competition into a runaway.

On the offensive side, on Thursday last year's No. 1 pick, receiver Ricky Pearsall, punctuated a terrific recent run of practices by hauling in a perfectly thrown deep touchdown pass from Purdy, who said they'd been trying to hit this play all camp.

It must be noted that the 49ers are once again limping through the dog days of camp just like when a massive injury wave wiped out their planned joint practice with the New Orleans Saints last year and then kept on going through the season. But with all the young players pegged for key roles, they need these practices even more this year than they did last camp.

Two football players in red and gold San Francisco 49ers practice uniforms are interacting, with one player’s hand near the other’s face.
Before he was in the face of Denver Broncos players, Upton Stout (left) was working against fellow 49ers defensive backs. | Source: Morgan Ellis/The Standard

"We also have a lot more open spots this year than we did last year," Shanahan said. "There's a lot of guys that need to get better and need to compete and hopefully make the decision for us on who makes this roster. ...

"So even when we have guys down, I thought it was important to get some younger guys out there and stuff and really get to continue to show us what they're made of because we judge off what we see. We still want to see a lot more before we have to make these decisions.”

Yes, the 49ers might suffer more injuries in this camp and during the season. Many more. Seasons are always fragile, especially for a top-heavy team like the 49ers. Yes, they need Jauan Jennings and Renardo Green back soon, and Brandon Aiyuk and Malik Mustapha back during the season.

But while they wait, the 49ers need to get work done. They had whole weeks and months wasted last season. Which led to all those losses in the regular season. They can't waste a day or a moment this year. Despite the familiar frustration with a familiar spate of injuries, this camp is different than the last one and it sure had to be.

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