After 15 months, NaVorro Bowman is back where he wants to be.
The three-time All-Pro linebacker was on the field for the 49ers' second voluntary workout on Wednesday. It was the first time Bowman has practiced with teammates since suffering a grisly knee injury in the 2013 NFC Championship Game.
"I'm out there," Bowman said, according to CSN Bay Area. "I'm putting my jersey on just like everyone else and doing as much as I can do and that my knee allows me to do."
Bowman sat out all of last season to rehab a left knee that suffered ACL and MCL tears in the 2013 playoffs. He was taken off the physically unable to perform list for a brief time last December, but was unable to practice and quickly shuttled to season-ending injured reserve. Wednesday represented tangible progress for a star with an uncertain future.
"I'm passing all the tests," Bowman said. "My knee is still stable and holding up the way they expected. Just continue to work through the little bit of aches that I have, but it's going to be there for at least another year and I just have to figure out how to deal with it."
Bowman called the 49ers' offseason "a little weird," referring to the new coaching staff, fresh defensive scheme, and the surprise retirements of linebackers Patrick Willis and Chris Borland.
The 49ers have plenty of question marks and Bowman is among the biggest.
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