49ers injuries: How Nick Bosa ankle sprain shakes things up

The San Francisco 49ers’ first-round rookie, Nick Bosa, has suffered a significant ankle sprain. Niner Noise dives into how this injury will affect his upcoming rookie season.

About two months ago, I wrote an article about five San Francisco 49ers players who absolutely had to stay healthy this season. Coming in at No. 3 on the list was rookie EDGE Nick Bosa, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, and the key to unlocking the full potential of the Niners’ menacing front seven.

And of course, in classic 49ers fashion, disaster struck on Wednesday when Bosa’s right leg got rolled up in a pile. He was down for a bit before getting up and walking gingerly to the locker room.

Bosa’s MRI that afternoon showed “just an ankle sprain,” as NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported to the public.

However, the next morning, 49ers general manager John Lynch reported on KNBR 680 (h/t The Athletic’s Matt Barrows) Bosa’s sprain had elements of those of a high-ankle one, which is drastically more serious than that of a low ankle.

Lynch announced Bosa would miss the entire preseason and was not committed on his status for Week 1.

This is obviously terrible news for Bosa and the 49ers. But it is not the worst-case scenario, which would put Bosa out for the whole season (torn ACL, Achilles, etc.). However, I am concerned not even about whether Bosa will play in Week 1, but how this injury will affect him when he comes back.

According to the Hospital for Special Surgery, the No. 1 orthopedic hospital in the country, some people will be able to recover in six weeks, but half of the people who suffer the sprain will experience symptoms for as long as six months.

That would be the entire rookie season for Bosa, if he were to fall under that 50 percent.

Fortunately, it isn’t a full-blown high ankle sprain, and head coach Kyle Shanahan did not seem to be too concerned with it during his appearance on KNBR. According to the head coach, the whole debacle actually could have been a lot worse, as Bosa was able to move his leg quickly enough so that it was not a more dire injury.

But how will the sprain affect Bosa’s level of play in his rookie season?

Let’s first look at another recent highly drafted pass-rusher, the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett. Garrett suffered his high-ankle sprain at a much less ideal time: right before the start of the season. He had to miss the first four weeks of 2018, but still had a productive rookie season, notching seven sacks in 11 games.

However, it should be noted Garrett had a much better sophomore season, where he was a complete menace on the edge, garnering 13.5 sacks that year. While this can be due to a variety of factors, such as experience, development and five more games played, Garrett simply looked like a better player on the field than he did in his rookie year.

Because Garrett still had a productive rookie season after suffering the high-ankle sprain, there is no reason to believe Bosa won’t do the same, especially since Bosa has more time to recover from the injury.

However, the one thing I am concerned about how the injury will affect his lateral quickness on the field, as the sprain should affect his get-off at the snap and overall ability to utilize speed to navigate around offensive linemen.

Only time will tell how Bosa will respond to the sprain. How he does will be a good indicator of how good of a football player he actually is.