49ers Down Under: ABC7 Eyewitness News heads to Melbourne for Niner's season opener against Rams

Updated 5 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The San Francisco 49ers are heading Down Under to open their NFL season against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, and ABC7 Eyewitness News will have complete coverage from Australia and the Bay Area.

ABC7's J.R. Stone will have live reports from Melbourne in the lead-up to the season opener and the latest on how 49ers fans are enjoying everything Australia has to offer.

The Niners wrapped up their final set of practices this week with defensive end Nick Bosa still sidelined and tight end George Kittle ramping up to play.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said before the team took the field Monday for the first of three practices before the team leaves the country that the plan was for both Kittle and Bosa to get on the field for team drills this week to prepare for the opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 11.

But Bosa wasn't on the field at all for the open portion of practice, while Kittle was participating in the non-added practice.

Preparing for Aaron Donald


The opener against the Rams will have an additional challenge after the Rams brought Aaron Donald out of retirement to join Myles Garrett on one of the fiercest defensive lines in the game.

Donald is a three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year but was out of football the past two seasons. His 12 1/2 career sacks against the 49ers in the regular season and playoffs are tied with Kevin Greene for the most ever.



"They got better, certainly, with him deciding to come out of retirement," Lynch said. "Now, there's time away. But I know that guy trains like a madman. I ran into him in a hotel somewhere a while back and we had some fun chatter back and forth. Never thought he'd do it. But he's doing it and so we better get ready for it."

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The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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