49ers DC: Talanoa Hufanga ‘looks good’ ahead of season opener

The San Francisco 49ers are just two days away from their first game of the season, where they’ll host the New York Jets on Monday Night Football at Levi’s Stadium.

Ahead of Week 1, one of the biggest questions surrounding the team has been health, with the main returning piece being safety Talanoa Hufanga, who missed much of the offseason as he recovered from a torn ACL injury.

Hufanga has since returned to practice, looking to ramp up ahead of Week 1 as he hopes to be ready and play on Monday.

What is the latest on Hufanga’s status ahead of Monday’s game against the Jets?

“It’s been great to see him. He looks good,” defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen said on Friday. “When I see him out there moving around, I think a lot of it is part of just the process. This was just the next step. Just like anybody, there are those checkmarks and those benchmarks that everyone has to hit and there’s such a specific plan for these guys, that I think he’s just hitting that next one.”

“But seeing him out there and trying to watch him, specifically in his individuals and some of the reps that he gets out there with the look team, he looks good. So it’s about him, how does he feel? Is he hitting those percentage numbers that he needs to hit with the strength, all those tests that they do, that I don’t know fully. They kind of give you some of it. But just talk him through it and see how he feels.”

Hufanga’s return would be a big boost to the defense, as he’d slot back into the starting lineup alongside Ji’Ayir Brown, allowing backup George Odum to take on more of a special teams role, while rookie Malik Mustapha wouldn’t be rushed into the fold early on.

But, the 49ers have been without him for the entire offseason, and have adjusted when it comes to the continuity aspect of things.

“When you have the guys out there practicing, it does matter because they’re used to hearing each other and communicating. Especially when we had some guys that were hurt already with Huf and [LB Dre] Greenlaw. That’s important because they communicate really well,” Sorensen said about the defense. “They’ve meshed together. The good part of it is, they’ve worked really hard and you can see it. They’re very serious and excited about the next step.”

The 49ers will likely release their official injury report later on Saturday ahead of the marquee matchup, with Hufanga’s status being one to watch.