ENGLEWOOD, Colo. –- Linebacker NaVorro Bowman downplayed the amount of time it takes him to get warmed up to take the practice field on his surgically repaired left knee.
In recent remarks to Peter King of the MMQB, Bowman said it takes him “about two hours” to get his knee ready for practice. On Thursday, he said that time "is not really two hours."
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During the two practices at the Denver Broncos’ practice facility, the 49ers’ buses arrived about 30 minutes before practice. And Bowman said he did not begin warming up at the team hotel.
If anyone interpreted Bowman’s remarks to King as evidence that he’s rushing back too soon from the injury that wiped out his entire 2014 season, Bowman said that simply is not true.
"I'm just a perfectionist,” Bowman said. “I like to warm up my leg as much as possible and to go out there and have a perfect practice. If it takes three hours, I'll take three hours. Some guys take a lot of things out of context. Me coming back early . . . that would have been if I would have come back during the season last year."
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He added, “I had surgery. It doesn’t feel the same as the other one, so I have to make sure I’m able to do everything I have to before practice starts. That’s where the time frame came from.”
Bowman said it typically takes him the first three plays during practice to get acclimated. In Bowman’s first exhibition game on Sunday, he was on the field for three plays against the Dallas Cowboys and was credited with three tackles.
“I warm-up the knee, the knee feels great and I go out there and just play,” he said.
