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Nick Bosa has not watched the 49ers’ fourth-quarter collapse from their Super Bowl loss six months ago. He doesn’t need that torture.
The memories remain vivid, especially a fateful third-and-15 play that catapulted the Kansas City Chiefs’ comeback, a Patrick Mahomes completion that came while Bosa appeared to get held by left tackle Eric Fisher, although no official called a penalty.
“I don’t like thinking about that game very much. I have gone back and watched up until the fourth quarter,” Bosa said Thursday on a video call with reporters. “Was I held? It’s pretty … it comes down to the opinion of a human being and that’s what refs are.
“If they think it’s holding, it’s holding. It could have been, it could not have been. It’s what he thinks. … I’m not going to say that’s the reason we lost the game.”
The 49ers blew a 10-point lead and fell 31-20 to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV at Miami, spoiling the end to Bosa’s rookie-of-the-year season just down the coast from where he was raised.
On the game’s pivotal play, Mahomes completed a 44-yard pass to Tyreek Hill, just before DeForest Buckner hit Mahomes and while Fisher wrapped his arms around Bosa’s torso up the middle.
“I’m not going to blame the ref by any means,” Bosa added. “It’s definitely good motivation. You get there and you’re seven minutes away and a nightmare of a situation happens.
“You can bet we’ll come back pretty strong this year, if we’re able to get 16 games in and the playoffs.”
Joey Bosa, once the Los Angeles Chargers made him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player last week, acknowledged that his younger brother Nick will be coming hard after that title.
“It will probably be a short-lived record, which is great because I’m happy to just set the bar and maybe my brother in a few years will surpass me, I’m sure of that,” Joey said on a conference call with reporters Monday.
What won’t happen, at least in the immediate future, is a Bosa brothers tandem on a team, something they pondered if the Chargers balked at paying the elder pass rusher.
“Yeah, we spent every waking hour together the past six months, so obviously we had conversations like that,” Nick Bosa said . “But we were pretty confident the Chargers would help get it done. I’m really happy it did. Joey loves his team and his teammates.
“… Maybe later in careers we can get together but we’re focused on our own paths right now.”
Joey, entering his fifth season with the Chargers, signed a five-year, $135 million contract last wee with $75 million guaranteed at signing. He was the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2016 and had 11 1/2 sacks last season.
Nick, drafted No. 2 overall, is the reigning NFL Rookie Defensive Player of the Year. He had nine sacks in the regular season before adding four in the 49ers’ playoff push that culminated in a Super Bowl defeat.
“I’m feeling by far in the best shape I’ve ever been,” Nick said. “Don’t look different because we don’t train to body build. We train to play football and it will show from here.”
Nick reported on time to 49ers training camp last year upon signing his rookie deal (four years, $33.5 million, with a team option for 2023). He is eligible for a contract extension as soon as he completes his third season. His base salary this season is $675,000.
In the NFL Network’s recently released list of Top 100 players, Nick ranked as the highest defensive end at No. 17 overall, while his brother checked in at No. 34.
— Left tackle Trent Williams did not consider opting out this season before Thursday’s deadline. He did not play last season with Washington because of a cancerous growth on his scalp.
“To be honest, I didn’t even give it a thought of opting out. If I don’t play this year, it’s going to be by force, not by options,” Williams said. ” It’s going to be weird not having fans but the majority of football we play is without nobody watching as we go through practices and scrimmages. The fans make the sport what it is on game day, with the cherry on top of the dream. The game is the game whether fans are their or not.”
