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The 49ers Aren't Sure if Talanoa Hufanga Will Be Ready for Week 1

If Hufanga can't play Week 1, the 49ers most likely will start veteran George Odum.

Grant Cohn

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga (29) arrives before Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga (29) arrives before Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers cleared Talanoa Hufanga to practice this week, but his status for the season opener remains in question.

Hufanga is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last season roughly 9 months ago. And from all reports, his rehab has gone well. But the 49ers don't want to rush him.

“We’re going to be judicious, going to be smart," general manager John Lynch said. "He's done a fabulous job with his rehab and he's been doing everything he can to the side. Today's a big step, get him back at practice. I think Kyle said earlier, we'll get him through individual, won't throw too much. You kind of like to phase that in. Will he be ready Week One? Not sure. I think it's going to be tight, but I think it's telling that we made the decision not to keep him on PUP, bring him off and we expect him somewhere early in the season. So, real proud of Huff and his progress. He makes us a better team, so be great to have him.”

The 49ers defense took a major hit last season after Hufanga went down. He's one of their best playmakers, not to mention one of their best run defenders. It's not easy to replace him.

If Hufanga can't play Week 1, the 49ers most likely will start veteran George Odum who took the majority of the first-string reps during training camp. Or, the 49ers could start rookie Malik Mustapha who had some extremely good moments during the preseason.

Knowing the 49ers, they'll go with the veteran.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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