SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have dealt with a string of injuries early this season that have forced them to play without stars such as George Kittle and Brock Purdy.
They have overcome that to get off to a 3-0 start, but now face an even bigger test with star defensive end Nick Bosa out for the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee on Sunday.
“I’m sick,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “I’m so sick for him because he knows what that’s like to go through that process of recovery from that injury, which I know he’s fully capable of but that doesn’t make it any easier. Obviously it’s a huge blow to our team, but we move forward. I hate to say next man up mentality because you can’t just replace him with one player. But the mission is still the same.”
This is the second time Bosa has had a season cut short in September by a torn ACL, having suffered one in his left knee early in the 2020 season. Bosa also injured his right ACL in high school.
The Niners held their first practice on Wednesday since losing Bosa but coach Kyle Shanahan said he didn't need to address the importance of the loss because everyone knows how vital Bosa is to the San Francisco defense.
“I’m not going to sit here and say something and make it better,” Shanahan said. "Everyone knows the deal and so we’ve got to focus on what we’ve got to get done.”
Bosa has made the Pro Bowl in all five of his healthy seasons and won the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022, when he led the league with 18 1/2 sacks.
Bosa’s 74 1/2 sacks in the regular season and playoffs are the fourth most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2019, and his 280 total pressures are the most in the NFL in that span, according to Sportradar.
The Niners will be counting on first-round rookie Mykel Williams, veterans Bryce Huff and Yetur Gross-Matos and several others to make up for Bosa's absence.
“It is by committee,” Warner said. “Losing Nick is a big deal. That’s one of the best players, not just on our team, but on the planet. We got to find ways to continue to create those pressures. He was obviously great for us in the run and the pass so we have to find ways to fill the void.”
San Francisco's top two quarterbacks are both dealing with injuries with Purdy limited at practice with a toe injury that sidelined him the past two games and backup Mac Jones limited by a knee injury.
Shanahan said both would get work with the starters on Wednesday and Purdy has progressed well in the past few days.
Leading receiver Ricky Pearsall missed practice with a knee injury but said it was minor and he will return to practice this week.
“It's nothing that I'm actually worried about at all,” he said.
Receiver Jauan Jennings remained out with an ankle injury but has a chance to return later this week.
Gross-Matos (knee), defensive tackle C.J. West (thumb) and receiver Jordan Watkins (calf) also missed practice with injuries.
Guard Connor Colby (groin), defensive tackle Kalia Davis (ankle), cornerback Renardo Green (neck) and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (illness) were all limited.
The Niners signed defensive end Robert Beal from the practice squad to fill an open roster spot. The team also signed defensive lineman William Bradley-King and safety Jaylen Mahoney to the practice squad and released defensive back Derrick Canteen from the practice squad.
San Francisco still needs to activate receiver Demarcus Robinson this week after his missed the first three weeks with a suspension but can create an open roster spot by playing Bosa on injured reserve.
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San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker Fred Warner reacts after batting down a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa walks off the field during the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.
The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honor that he has coveted. Even if it the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of resistance in Venezuela. He has signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s second in command.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize," Machado told reporters after leaving the White House and heading to Capitol Hill. She said she had done so "as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela, giving no timetable on when elections might be held. Machado indicated that he had provided few specifics on that front during their discussion.
She did not provide more information on what was said, and the White House did not say if Trump accepted the medal or offer other details of its own.
After a closed-door meeting with Trump, Machado greeted dozens of cheering supporters waiting for her near the White House gates, stopping to hug many.
“We can count on President Trump,” she told them without elaborating, prompting some to briefly chant, “Thank you, Trump.”
Before her visit to Washington, Machado had not been seen in public since she traveled last month to Norway, where her daughter received the peace prize on her behalf. She had spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela before she appeared in Norway after the ceremony.
The jubilant scene after her meeting with Trump stood in contrast to political realities in Venezuela. Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations, along with others in Maduro’s inner circle. In her first state of the union speech Thursday, the interim president promoted the resumption of diplomatic ties between the historic adversaries and advocated for opening the state-run oil industry to more foreign investment after Trump pledged to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” but also said the meeting didn’t mean Trump’s opinion of her changed, calling it “a realistic assessment.”
Leavitt told reporters that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
Leavitt said Machado had sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. She spent about two and a half hours at the White House.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said while the meeting was still going on, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
After leaving the White House, Machado went on to a closed-door meeting with a bipartisan group of senators.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Machado told them that “if there’s not some progress, real progress towards a transition in power, and/or elections in the next several months, we should all be worried.”
“She reminded us that Delcy Rodríguez is, in many ways, worse than Maduro,” he added.
Asked if Machado had heard any commitment from the White House on holding elections in Venezuela, Murphy said, “No, I don’t think she got any commitment from them."
Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, was exultant following the meeting, saying Machado "delivered a message that loud and clear: What President Trump did was the most important, significant event in Latin America. That getting rid of Maduro was absolutely essential.”
Machado's Washington stop coincided with U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seizing another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife less than two weeks ago at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and noted that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.” Machado had steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize, and had sought to cultivate relationships with him and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, Machado began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush, whom Chávez considered an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown.
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, Michelle L. Price and Matthew Lee in Washington, and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is welcomed at the Capitol before a meeting with senators, from left, Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., as the Nobel Peace Prize recipient visits American leaders two weeks after President Donald Trump toppled Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a stunning military raid, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, center, leaves the Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, center, is welcomed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., far left, and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., right, as the Nobel Peace Prize recipient visits American leaders at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
