Video of 49ers safety shows optimism on their ACL recovery

Malik Mustapha is 21 weeks post op and squatting some serious weight. Both he and Brandon Aiyuk are working hard to get back to the team

With all this chat of Brandon Aiyuk returning from his ACL injury, it almost seems like you almost might forget about San Francisco 49ers safety Malik Mustapha.

Almost.

Mustapha has posted some updates on social media now that he’s 21 weeks post-op from his ACL surgery. Much like watching Aiyuk shoot hoops and run around, this shows that recovery seems to be progressing.

So we first get him squatting four plates (which isn’t easy if your knee is 100 percent). While squats do target the quadriceps, your knees can also take some stress. It’s not good form, but it can happen. Given that the risk is minimal and he’s doing it with little issue, it means things are good.

And then we got him running around. You might not notice this, but the first clip of him sprinting looks like he’s attached to a sled or weights of sorts, and he’s still bouncing around.

Mustapha tore his ACL in a surprise report of sorts following the 2025 NFL draft. It was initially described as a “re-injury” to his knee in the 49ers’ final game of the season, but later was said to be an ACL tear.

Muspatha is 21 weeks post-op. Sure, this looks great, but he’s not precisely getting leveled by a lineman doing dangerous acrobatics. We won’t know how far along he is.

Additionally, the 49ers have a plethora of safeties, suggesting they may have anticipated the need for a backup plan. They drafted Marques Single in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, adding him to a room that has Ji’Ayir Brown, Richie Grant, Jason Pinnock, and George Odum. That’s a lot of safeties.

If Mustapha has a setback, it appears the 49ers prepared for such a situation. I’m no doctor, so I can only speculate (feel free to offer medical opinions in the comments) but this looks more like a workout than a rehab, which is a good sign