49ers at Dolphins: Five players to watch beyond homecoming Bosa
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – This is a new one for Nick Bosa. He has never competed in a game without postseason implications, not even back in his youth days nearby on the Pembroke Pines Optimist Bengals.
“We were great, the PPO Bengals. We were dominant,” Bosa recalled of an undefeated league championship at age 7.
When the 2020 49ers slank to the finish line amid the COVID pandemic, Bosa was recovering from knee reconstruction, and, while he’s now pushing through an oblique injury, he’s intent on ushering the 49ers to this season’s bitter end.
That’s not how Bosa, a Fort Lauderdale native, envisioned coming home this weekend. The 49ers (6-8) visit the Miami Dolphins (6-8) with playoff elimination a near certainty for both.
“Actually I’ve never been in this situation my entire football career,” Bosa said. “But in the NFL, every opportunity to go on the field is your résumé, so you’ll do your best for yourself and the guy next to you.”
Last game, that didn’t happen. As the short-staffed 49ers careened toward a 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell refused to come off the bench and subsequently got suspended for the rest of this season.
So you won’t see Campbell on Sunday, and it’s already a given that Bosa will attract attention in his return to Hard Rock Stadium, where he and five remaining 49ers starters endured the 2019 season’s Super Bowl heartbreak.
These are five other players to watch Sunday:
1. BROCK PURDY
Unable to mimic last season’s 4,280 yards that set a 49ers’ single-season record, Purdy’s latest 2024 setback saw him unable to lead a touchdown drive last game, and that enhanced concerns over how the 49ers will handle his contract extension after this season.
“The defense is playing great right now. The special teams are playing their best ball. For offense, let’s get this thing going and look like the Niners that we all know,” said Purdy, who grew up a Dan Marino fan and said it would be “sweet” to meet him in person Sunday.
Purdy could use any boost, but he doesn’t need this game or the next two to prove he’s their long-term answer. He has two-plus years of equity and four playoff wins to bolster his case. Everyone understands he has a diminished supporting cast without Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams.
Kyle Shanahan has relayed his simple order: “Just do his job. Move the chains, protect the ball, get the ball to the right people when it’s supposed to be and help us win the game.” This season, the 49ers rank 15th in first downs (19.8 per game), Purdy accounts for 12 turnovers, and the only “right” targets seem to be George Kittle and Jauan Jennings.
2. CHARVARIUS WARD
Don’t be shocked if this is Ward’s 49ers finale, as incredible as it has been that he has even played the past three games in the wake of his 23-month-old daughter’s unexpected death Oct. 28.
Ward is expecting his first-born son any day now and figures to attend the birth in the Dallas area. Family time is paramount at this stage of his life – and season.
All that said, Ward doesn’t want his 49ers tenure to end without him making an interception this season. Tua Tagovailoa has thrown just seven interceptions in 10 games, but he threw a trio last game toward Tyreek Hill, who Ward used to cover as Kansas City Chiefs teammates from 2018-21; Hill created a stir Wednesday with a social media post stating it’s time he goes to coach.
With the 49ers signing cornerback Deommodore Lenoir to an extension (five years, $92 million) last month, Ward expects his 49ers tenure will end after three years. It’s understandable if there were too many traumatic moments in California to have him go seek a job elsewhere, perhaps closer to his Dallas-area home.
3. DRE GREENLAW
Greenlaw’s Achilles comeback was 10 months in the making, and it was aborted after just 30 snaps against the Rams out of concerns over his left leg’s stability. He insists he’s fine. He’s also a pending free agent, so he surely wants to prove himself.
The 49ers won’t put him in harm’s way just to test his leg. They also don’t have a slew of options, certainly none that wonderfully complement Fred Warner nor spice up their entire defense and team with an all-out approach.
Asking him to play a full game still seems unlikely. He’s worked himself back into the lineup and now it’s worth watching how he performs.
4. AARON BANKS
Pretty much the only time offensive linemen jump out – at least on television – is when they commit a penalty or make an absolutely sterling block to spring a long run. So try your hardest to keep an eye on Banks. He has three games remaining under contract, in this third season as a full-time starter.
Free agency beckons. Does an extension? Banks is an East Bay native who became a South Bay homeowner upon the 49ers drafting him in the second round in 2021. They let his predecessor, Laken Tomlinson, walk after a Pro Bowl season in 2021.
Keep in mind Banks again won’t be playing next to All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, who’ll miss his fifth straight game due to an ankle injury.
5. RICKY PEARSALL
Forget about fretting whether Deebo Samuel gets the ball – and drops it or not. The 49ers know all about him. They don’t know enough about rookie Ricky Pearsall.
While he famously survived a gunshot wound through his chest in the preseason, his onboarding process was also impacted by shoulder and hamstring injuries. He missed practice reps, as well as the first six games.
Remember that impressive connection he had with Purdy in the spring? That needs to resurface, and it certainly did not last game when Purdy missed an open Pearsall on a post route.
Pearsall has just one catch in each of the last two games, after a three-game drought. He’s caught 13-of-24 targets for 153 yards and a touchdown, which he scored in the 49ers’ last Sunshine State visit six weeks ago in Tampa. Pearsall played his final two collegiate seasons at Florida but never attended a Dolphins game, by the way.
“He’s going the right direction and hope it keeps improving here these next three games,” Shanahan said.