NaVorro Bowman: It takes me two hours to get my knee ready for game

NaVorro Bowman says it takes two hours for his knee to get ready for a game.

San Francsico 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman played for about three minutes in his team's preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. 

It took him nearly 40 times as long to get his knee ready to play. 

Bowman, who played in a competitive football game Sunday for the first time since tearing his knee in January of 2014, told The MMQB's Peter King it now takes him nearly two hours to prepare his knee for every practice or game. 

“The massaging and the bending, the flexing of the knee,” Bowman said about his pregame work. “Once I do that I have a five-minute period where it just needs to relax and then I’m ready to go.”

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Bowman was a three-time first-team All-Pro until his injury, which occurred during the playoffs after the 2013 regular season. From 2010 to 2013, he played in every regular season game. 

In his last full year, Bowman recorded 145 tackles, including five sacks, as well as two interceptions and four forced fumbles.  

Bowman will be counted on at middle linebacker for the 49ers, who lostPatrick WillisandChris Borland to retirement this offseason. 

- Rohan Nadkarni