The San Francisco 49ers' first-round pick (2nd overall), defensive end Nick Bosa, will miss the next few weeks of the team's offseason program with a grade-one right hamstring strain, according to ESPN.com.
The news comes following the rookie edge rusher's leaving Thursday's practice early, favoring his right leg. The former-Ohio State Buckeye standout missed most of his final season with the perennial Big Ten Conference contenders with a bilateral core muscle injury. Just three games into the 2018 college football season, Bosa was forced to shut himself down, rehabilitate, and prepare himself for the coming NFL scouting combine and draft.
Also injured in Thursday's practice was defensive back Jimmie Ward, who suffered a broken collarbone and will likely miss at least the remaining 49ers Spring workouts, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network via Twitter.
#49ers S Jimmie Ward did, in fact, fracture his collarbone, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo. Out for the rest of the spring, though his exact timetable is not yet clear.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 23, 2019
Niner fans are looking forward to a full season of a healthy Jimmy Garoppolo, with his full accompaniment of offensive weapons, all led by their head coach and offensive genius Kyle Shanahan. At the same time, San Francisco was characterized by their tough defense during their most recent run of postseason success, which is what they've been working to rebuild over the past few seasons.
Bosa and Ward are two important cogs in their defensive machine–especially Bosa. While the two are forced to miss time that could be spent getting comfortable in their scheme and getting into game-shape and regular-season rhythm, the 49er defense is going to have to prepare for the prospect of missing one or both young men in early 2019.
The Bay Area fans who follow the 49ers know about their team's recent history of being bitten by the injury bug. At this point, not to jinx anyone, only an injury to Jimmy G would be more unnerving than a sidelined-Nick Bosa. Hopefully, for the sake of the fans, Bosa and Ward will heal and be ready to go by the start of the regular season. If not, coach Shanahan will have to instill the "next man up" mentality in his squad, imploring worthy backups to step up and play bigger than themselves.
