The San Francisco 49ers officially opened safety Malik Mustapha’s practice window on Monday. Mustapha is recovering from a surgery he had in January to reattach a graft of the ACL in his right knee — which was from a previous surgery.

The 49ers have 21 days to activate Mustapha to the 53-man roster for him to play this season. In theory, Mustapha could play as early as Week 6 against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that just scored 38 points.

Rookie Marques Sigle and Jason Pinnock have started at safety in each of the first five games of the season. Ji’Ayir Brown continues to play on base downs. Brown played 12 snaps against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5.

Mustapha was one of the best defenders in 2024 for the 49ers. We don’t have to worry about whether he’ll start or not. He warmed up with

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