The San Francisco 49ers’ secondary will get a much-needed boost when the club visits the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
While All-Pros litter the team’s injury report, one player’s name was noticeably absent. Strong safety Talanoa Hufanga made it through a week of full practices and is in line to start San Francisco’s Week 3 game in LA. It’ll mark his first game action since he tore his ACL in Week 11 last year.
Hufanga didn’t participate in training camp, but got close enough to returning to come off the Physically Unable to Perform list at final cuts. That made him eligible to return as soon as he was ready instead of waiting the requisite four weeks had he stayed on an injured list.
The 2022 All-Pro was limited throughout Weeks 1 and 2 before returning for full practices leading up to Week 3.
It’s unclear whether he’ll have a full complement of snaps or if the club will rotate in another safety.
Either way, having Hufanga back will provide a lift for a 49ers secondary that has some significant question marks with Charvarius Ward listed as questionable because of knee and hamstring injuries.
San Francisco struggled some with communication in the secondary against the Vikings, which is something Hufanga should be able to immediately help with even if he isn’t at full speed just yet.
