Nick Bosa worked with rookie Mykel Williams as the 49ers prepare for the season, creating a potentially potent pass-rush duo. The team emphasizes restoring a defensive identity that first stops the run, with particular focus on early games in Seattle and New Orleans. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh notes a league trend back toward running the football and adjustments to two-deep safety looks. Last season's opener exposed run-defense vulnerabilities when the 49ers faced 38 runs for 180 yards. The roster keeps 11 defensive linemen and features several recent draft picks competing for starting roles.
SANTA CLARA Nick Bosa sagely gave pass-rushing tips to rookie Mykel Williams off to the side as Thursday's practice began, just over a week until the 49ers' season starts. That combination punch the Bosa-Williams merger and their sack-seeking technique very well could lead their defensive front's resurgence. But before the 49ers can chase down quarterbacks, their new cast of defenders must rediscover the franchise's standard of first stopping the run, especially at run-oriented depots in Seattle and New Orleans to start the season.
You kind of feel that, Saleh said Thursday. All of us on defense are sitting back playing two-shell (with deep safeties). I do think these coordinators are starting to get back to running the football and establishing that, to get people from playing two-shell. It does seem the evolution is going back to the run game. The 49ers gave him a rude awakening in that last year, when Saleh began his fourth and soon-to-be-final season as the New York Jets coach. It was like a punch in the mouth in Week 1 last year, Saleh recalled.
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