49ers’ Nick Bosa exits game with knee injury, gives thumbs-down to crowd

By Canadian Press on September 21, 2025.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers star defensive end Nick Bosa left the game against the Arizona Cardinals with a knee injury in the first half.

Bosa left the field favoring his right leg after a third-down pass rush in the first quarter. He went immediately to the medical tent and appeared to give a thumbs-down signal to someone in the crowd.

He tested out the knee briefly on the sideline before going back to the locker room. He was ruled out of the game at halftime.

San Francisco rookie defensive end Mykel Williams also went back to the locker room in the first half with a wrist injury but quickly returned.

Bosa won the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022 and is one of the most important players on the 49ers. He had two sacks in the first two games this season and has 64 1/2 in his career.

Bosa has made the Pro Bowl in five of his six seasons in the NFL, missing only in 2020 when he went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 2.

The Niners have been missing several of their biggest stars with tight end George Kittle on injured reserve after hurting his hamstring in the season opener, No. 1 receiver Brandon Aiyuk on the physically unable to perform list recovering from knee surgery and quarterback Brock Purdy missing two games with a toe injury.

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Josh Dubow, The Associated Press