Mom of 49ers’ Nick Bosa does his bragging for him

Nick Bosa is back with the 49ers and has a lot of catching up to do for the time he spent away from the team his offseason. Thankfully, his mom, Cheryl Bosa, is ready to help make up for lost time.

The Bosa family matriarch joined Bay Area radio station 95.7 The Game on Tuesday to talk about her son’s return after he agreed to a five-year contract with $122 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid defensive player in league history. Not being in Santa Clara for workouts and practices means the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year missed out on very important offseason experiences like telling local reporters he’s in the best shape of his life. That’s where Cheryl stepped in.

“Physically, he’s a specimen,” she said on the “Willard & Dibs” show. “Literally, he’s in better shape than he’s ever been in his life. He’s faster than he was, he’s stronger than he was last year if you can imagine. I mean, that’s all fact.”

This isn’t just mom talking a big game here, Cheryl has seen Nick’s approach to his workouts during this holdout, which include workouts with his brother, Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa, and his father, John. They start with running drills in the morning, then Nick eats a “gigantic” six-egg (with two egg whites) omelette for breakfast. After that it’s a “lifting workout” with his dad, and then dinner. 

Still, Cheryl knows they’re no replacing actual football.

“I’m real happy that he’s going to get some reps with Trent tomorrow,” she said. “You can be in great shape, but if you’re going up against Trent Williams, you need a little more than just being in great shape. I’m very, very happy that he’s on his way there and that he’s going to have Thursday, Friday with his boys to get his legs under him.”

Those two days are all Nick will have after his holdout spanned basically the entirety of the offseason. Negotiations were coming down to the wire, with rumors swirling that he might not be ready for to play at Pittsburgh for the Niners’ Week 1 game against the Steelers on Sunday. The limited reports from insiders indicated that if there was ever a family that’d be willing to hold out as long is it took, it’d be the Bosas.

Kyle Shanahan’s prediction about Bosa from Wednesday appears to be correct.

“He’d have to have a beer belly and be out of shape or something,” Shanahan told reporters of what it would take for Bosa to miss Week 1. “And that’s not in Bosa’s DNA.”

If Cheryl’s assessment is to be believed, it’s hard to imagine Nick arriving in California with a gut of any kind.