{"id":452137,"date":"2026-09-03T11:26:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T11:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/452137\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T11:26:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T11:26:26","slug":"49ers-sam-okuayinonu-excited-for-another-australia-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/452137\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers’ Sam Okuayinonu excited for another Australia adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2013 Sam Okuayinonu<\/a>, unlike most if not all of his 49ers<\/a> teammates, already has been to Australia.<\/p>\n

Not just once, but in each of the past two offseasons.<\/p>\n

Thus, he has simple advice for his teammates as they board a chartered jumbo jet Wednesday night for Melbourne, where they\u2019ll acclimate for a week before opening the NFL season against the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> at the famed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sept. 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust try to stay on top of the sleep schedule, so you\u2019ll be ready to go come game time, because the jet lag is real,\u201d Okuayinonu said Tuesday at his locker after practice.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, the 49ers got a 30-minute lecture about the importance of airplane sleep from Dustin Perry, the vice president of health and performance. Defensive end Keion White quipped that he\u2019ll be downing melatonin to help him sleep.<\/p>\n

Okuayinonu and some of his former Tennessee Titans teammates spent \u00a01 \u00bd weeks in Melbourne during the 2025 offseason, then they returned south in February to hit Sydney\u2019s sights before a stop back in Hawaii, where the 269-pound Okuayinonu surfed off Waikiki Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went to Melbourne, they were hosting a Super Bowl event, and seeing how much they love football, I\u2019m excited to see how they\u2019re going to be cheering,\u201d Okuayinonu said. \u201cAnd with the (100,000-seat) capacity of that stadium, it\u2019s going to be full with energy in there. It\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite constantly waking up at 3 a.m., Okuayinonu has relished his Australian trips, noting that Melbourne is \u201cyounger, more lively\u201d than Sydney, where he hit the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was beautiful out there,\u201d Okuayinonu said. \u201cThe way of life is different; it slows down. Good food, good people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okuayinonu produced three sacks each of the past two seasons, reflecting the 49ers\u2019 struggles to generate a fearsome pass rush, compounded last season by Nick Bosa\u2019s Week 3 exit to a knee injury.<\/p>\n

Okuayinonu spent most of this past training camp as a first-string defense, along with rookie Romello Height, who is currently sidelined by an ankle injury.<\/p>\n

Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris described Okuayinonu as having a \u201cpitbull mentality. He\u2019s a barnyard bully.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHITE\u2019S GUNSHOT RECOVERY<\/p>\n

White took a lighthearted approach when speaking to the media for the first time since getting shot in the foot<\/a> at a Super Bowl afterparty in San Francisco; police have made no arrests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I got shot. A gunshot to the foot, broke my talus bone, so I had to have surgery,\u201d White said. \u201cTwo screws in (the ankle). Brushed it off. I literally was making jokes as I was going to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he feared for his life, White replied: \u201cNo, the funny part is I was the calming everyone else down. I don\u2019t really take a lot of things seriously, so I didn\u2019t know I got shot until like five minutes after I was walking around. It was cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, White\u2019s foot and ankle required extensive therapy afterward, to which he said: \u201cIt\u2019s an ongoing thing. I\u2019m still dealing with my ankle and recovery. I feel pretty good right now. It was a touch-and-go situation right up until training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

BOSA UPDATE<\/p>\n

Nick Bosa\u2019s month-long hiatus from practice is expected to end Wednesday, general manager John Lynch said Tuesday morning on KNBR 680-AM. Bosa was not seen during media access the first 20 minutes of practice Monday and Tuesday, but Lynch said Bosa\u2019s plan was to work on a side field those days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing because he came back in camp and was all ready. When he tried to get out there on the field, it got stirred up a bit and he got tendinitis, which often happens in an ACL recovery. That was unfortunate,\u201d Lynch said. \u201c\u2026 Is it ideal? No, but so long as he responds well, he\u2019s been tracking very well. \u2026 We\u2019re very hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n

KITTLE KEEPS AT IT<\/p>\n

Tight end George Kittle participated in his fourth consecutive practice since his Achilles comeback was cleared and he came off the Physically Unable to Perform list Aug. 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt comes down to objective measures and he\u2019s absolutely crushed them all,\u201d Lynch added.<\/p>\n

PRAISE FOR THOMPSON<\/p>\n

Undrafted defensive tackle James Thompson Jr. was the \u201cshocker of camp\u201d in making the 49ers\u2019 53-man roster, according to defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who described Thompson as: \u201cBig man, stood up, throwing hands, shedding blocks. Does a lot of things in a positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n

ROLL CALL<\/p>\n

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk was not spotted in warmups, a day after he returned from a month-long hiatus caused by a fractured finger.<\/p>\n

Wide receiver Mike Evans (groin) and linebacker Luke Gifford (hamstring) were among those seen on a side field, while others out of practice were defensive linemen Romello Height (ankle) and Grayson Halton (ankle); wide receiver Jacob Cowing (hip) and cornerbacks Renardo Green (hamstring) and Ephesians Prysock (shoulder).<\/p>\n

Added to the practice squad were cornerback Brandon Codrington, defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr., defensive tackle Kevin Givens and offensive lineman Foster Sarell.<\/p>\n

PUNT RETURN OPTION<\/p>\n

Cowing seemingly recaptured his 2024 job as the 49ers\u2019 punt returner, but with him sidelined, the 49ers continue to explore options, including Deebo Samuel, Jordan Watkins, Jack Jones and Codrington.<\/p>\n

TRAVEL PLANS<\/p>\n

The 49ers\u2019 buses are expected to depart their facility about 9 p.m. Wednesday en route to San Francisco for their direct flight to Melbourne aboard a Qantas Airbus A380 double-decker jumbo jet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2013 Sam Okuayinonu, unlike most if not all of his 49ers teammates, already has been to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[19108,13734,184,7,2333,949,402,1533,181,752,182,296,88,90,89,197,198,200,127],"class_list":["post-452137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-49ers-alert","tag-49ers-hq","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-editors-picks","tag-football","tag-inside-sports","tag-keywee","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nfl","tag-pm-report","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}