It has been a very long road back for San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga since tearing his ACL last November.
Hufanga could only watch from the sidelines as the 49ers suffered an agonizing defeat in Super Bowl 58, the All-Pro safety having sustained a season-ending knee injury in a Week 11 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 2021 fifth-round pick has since had to show extreme patience during his lengthy wait to get back on the field, but he could now be finally nearing a return to practice.
Hufanga had a check-up with his doctor on Thursday and was given the green light to take the next step towards getting back to practice.
Asked about Hufanga's check-up, head coach Kyle Shanahan said: "It was good. I think he got back late last night. He cleared him for the next steps, which is that we can push him a little bit harder.
"Not against players, but more football stuff and those type of dynamic cuts and everything. Hopefully he has a real good week of it and we can talk about easing him into practice."
Hufanga has previously stated that his goal to be ready for Week 1. The latest update from his doctor allowing him to take part in some football activities moves him closer towards doing so.
Still, Hufanga will need to come through those activities unscathed next week before he can think about returning to full practice.
Even if he achieves that feat, it will still mean Hufanga will enter the regular season having not played in a preseason game. The 49ers' final exhibition encounter is against the Las Vegas Raiders a week from Friday.
The 49ers will likely view the couple of weeks of preparation Hufanga will get as ample. Still, it represents a tight turnaround for a key tone setter on the San Francisco defense, one that should make the 49ers more grateful for the strides made by backup George Odum and rookie Malik Mustapha during training camp.
