SANTA CLARA — Talanoa Hufanga was sitting at his locker Thursday, flanked by Ji’Ayir Brown to his left and Deommodore Lenoir to his right. Fred Warner emerged from an area off-limits to the media to provide an introduction as the 49ers safety met the media for the first time since being cleared to play from a torn right ACL last Nov. 19.
That was 12 games ago, including the 2023 postseason.
The 49ers will be without Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel when they visit the Los Angeles Rams Sunday at SoFi Stadium. As for tight end George Kittle (hamstring) and cornerback Charvarius Ward (hamstring/knee), both of whom couldn’t practice, who knows?
Also unknown is how much Hufanga, a first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2022, will play. Both he and coach Kyle Shanahan were circumspect about his role.
Regardless, with injuries swirling around the 49ers, having Hufanga back in any role was reason for smiles all around.
“My daughter was walking before I was, and that puts it in perspective, and you’ve got to humble yourself in that sense,” Hufanga said. “I took it hour by hour. I’m here, I’m excited, and hopefully my number is called and I’m ready to go.”
Shanahan, in his weekly appearance on KNBR-680, said, “I expect to see him out there flying around on Sunday.”
The 49ers need help in the deep secondary.
Brown and veteran George Odum started the first two games, with Odum, a longtime special teams standout, giving way to rookie fourth-round pick Malik Mustapha in the second half of a 23-17 loss to Minnesota.
Brown and Odum allowed Justin Jefferson to get behind them for a 97-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold. Both are considered physical players better suited to the line of scrimmage, as is Mustapha. The same goes for Hufanga, whose role model and mentor is Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu, another product of USC and Oregon high school football.
It’s hard to know what the 49ers are getting upon Hufanga’s return. He played primarily special teams as a rookie, with his scoop-and-score touchdown off a blocked punt against Green Bay in the playoffs a signature moment.
Although a sixth-round draft pick, Hufanga was starting in Year 2 and had a breakout season. He was making plays by the week, especially early on, including a 52-yard interception return against Matthew Stafford and the Rams in a game the 49ers won 24-9 in Week 4, inviting comparison to Polamalu from luminaries such as Hall of Famer Charles Woodson on social media.
The publicity went a long way toward Hufanga being named a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro, even if the second half of his second season wasn’t as sensational as the first.
Looking back on it after burying himself in video and with counsel from Polamalu, Hufanga himself believes he could have done better. He’s watched himself get beaten on two plays and then make a play on the third, and wants to remove the mistakes and be make the play right away.
“I look back on my second year, Pro Bowl, All-Pro, but to me, it was really mediocre in a sense and I really like to look at it that way,” Hufanga said. “Even the plays I made, it’s like, how can I be better on those? Why did it take me three times to see the same play?”
As Hufanga went through his rehab, particularly in the early weeks, he buried himself in film because there wasn’t much else he could do.
Talanoa Hufanga’s 52-yard interception return for a touchdown was the signature play in a 24-9 win over the L.A. Rams in 2022. Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group
“It was an opportunity to be around my family, to dive into the playbook and dive into the film room and I never looked at it as a bad process to go through,” Hufanga said. “Everybody’s been through something. This was just my story and my process. When I looked at it, there were so many positives from it, versus negatives.
“If people get caught in the negatives, it will affect your healing for sure.”
Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen, Hufanga’s third defensive coordinator in three years, likes what he’s seen. Sorensen lauded Hufanga’s ability to get “mental reps” to put himself in position to make plays when he was back on the field.
“He was fully in it,” Sorensen said. “If you can do that, you can steal reps when you’re not actually out there. He was totally preparing himself to be ready.”
Conversations with general manager John Lynch, a Hall of Fame safety, contributed to the down time as well.
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“I remember talking to him before I got hurt, and a lot of it was my eyes,” Hufanga said. “He believes in me, gives me the ability to go out and play instinctually. Kyle even brought me into that, watching practice, seeing how they’re trying to attack our defense. Those are things you pick up and try to put into our game to try and make our defense the best in the world.”
When Hufanga was hurt, Brown stepped in as a rookie starter against Tampa Bay. With Hufanga rehabbing, the two didn’t have much of a chance to bond initially but have been making up for lost time.
“It’s been a blast to be out there, just having him on the practice field,” Brown said. “We’ve been communicating, man. It’s dope to see, something we’ve been waiting on for a long time. We’ve been hearing about how it would look, and with the two of us back there throughout the week, it’s something that’s going to be exciting to see.”