The San Francisco 49ers may get a key piece of their secondary back for their Week 3 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams.
Strong safety Talanoa Hufanga has been out since he tore his ACL in Week 11 of last season. There was some hope early in the offseason that he’d be back in time for the middle of training camp. He wound up missing all of camp, but he didn’t stay on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Instead, the team activated him so he could practice the first two weeks.
With limited participation for Hufanga throughout those first couple weeks of practice, it appears the team was using that time as a de facto training camp to help the 2022 All-Pro ramp up into playing shape. Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters in a press conference Wednesday that Hufanga has a chance to go in Week 3.
“He’s looking good,” Shanahan said. “He’s had two good weeks. Had a real good week last week, so hopefully he can get in and play this week and have three good practices.”
San Francisco would love to have Hufanga in the back end of its defense following a performance where they had a slew of defensive miscommunications and allowed some big plays in the passing game.
George Odum held down the starting SS spot throughout camp, but rookie Malik Mustapha started rotating in against the Vikings. If Hufanga can’t go in Week 2, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mustapha in with the starters.
However, it looks like there’s optimism from the 49ers that their 2021 sixth-round pick will be back for Week 3, making their secondary whole once again.
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