49ers’ Floyd ready to open another season vs. Rodgers, Jets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SANTA CLARA — On Leonard Floyd’s fourth snap with his new team last season, the now-49ers defensive end registered his first of 10.5 sacks with the Buffalo Bills.
That play was best-remembered for what happened to the the player everybody tuned in to watch with his new team.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, making his debut with the New York Jets after 18 NFL seasons with the Green Bay Packers, sustained a torn Achilles on the play.
“My view was I didn’t have a view,” Floyd said. “I was celebrating my sack, and I didn’t really know about it until the other quarterback kept playing.”
Coincidentally, Floyd again will open the season against Rodgers and the Jets on “Monday Night Football” — this time as a member of the 49ers.
He would like for nothing about that night to be repeated on Monday night at Levi’s Stadium.
“What I remember is … I think we lost that game,” Floyd said. “We freakin’ lost. That’s what I remember. So this year I want to win and kick their [butts].”
Despite Rodgers’ early exit, the Jets managed to pull out a 22-16 victory with the winning points coming in the fourth quarter on rookie Xavier Gipson’s 65-yard punt return for a touchdown.
This is Floyd’s ninth season in the NFL and his first with the 49ers after signing a two-year, $20 million contract in the offseason.
It was a unique training camp for the 49ers, with two major players engaged in contract situations that kept them off the practice field.
Floyd might be fortunate to get back on the field after he sustained a knee injury in the final preseason game. But he is cleared and ready for the start of the regular season.
That has been his focus while there have been so many other issues around him.
“My vibe is I live in my world, so I just focus on me and my job and make sure I please my position coach,” Floyd said. “I have enough stress with that, so I don’t think about other stuff.”
All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams was on the practice field Tuesday morning for the first time after he and the 49ers reached an agreement on a revised contract. Williams’ holdout is over, and that is good news to Floyd and everyone else around the team.
Now, Floyd can work against and with Williams as teammates.
“I played Trent when I was with the [Los Angeles] Rams,” he said. “It’ll be great going against a great athlete like him every day at practice. I look forward to it.”
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