49ers DE Romello Height inspired by Patrick Willis to play through broken hand

It’s hard to draw many similarities between Romello Height and Patrick Willis. In fact, it’d be foolish to do so. One guy is a rookie defensive end who has played in three NFL games; the other is arguably the greatest linebacker in San Francisco 49ers history.

There is one eerie similarity, however, even if it is born out of pure coincidence: Both players broke their right hands during a game while playing for the 49ers. Both players returned to said game, sporting bulky hard-shelled clubs while in significant pain. And both players went on to miss their first-ever NFL games, each against the Arizona Cardinals, due to the injury.

Height broke his hand early on in the 49ers’ Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins. He headed to the locker room and reemerged after halftime with his right hand wrapped in a white cast. In the second half, Height recorded his first NFL sack when he chased Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage.

“I was going off adrenaline,” Height said of his second-half performance in the 49ers’ 35-13 win. “I felt pain, but it didn’t matter at that point. I wanted to play for my brothers, and I wanted to finish the deal.”

After further evaluation postgame, doctors determined Height’s hand would require surgery. He had a procedure Sept. 22 that kept him out of the 49ers’ subsequent contest against the Cardinals, before making his return in Week 4 against the Denver Broncos, starting and playing 37 snaps. 

Every time Height dug his right hand into the grass at Levi’s Stadium, or wrapped a player up for a tackle, or put a pass-rush move on an offensive lineman, he did so with a swollen right hand that had a large incision just above his index finger. 

Protecting his hand was a club – a club so hard that when Height gave fellow rookie Jaden Dugger a fist bump, he questioned how Height was even playing. Beneath his club was “a lot” of protective padding, Height said, giving the cast so much bulk that it could only be compared to a boxing glove.

In 2010, Willis played just three days after undergoing surgery on a broken hand that he suffered during a December game against the Seahawks. After playing with that cast for multiple weeks, Willis underwent a second surgery ahead of Week 17 due to complications, which caused him to miss his first-ever NFL game. That snapped a 63-game streak to start his career. Willis also played with a cast on his hand for parts of his junior season at Ole Miss and in 2010 with the 49ers.

Height said he took inspiration from Willis’ mentality.

“I just thought of it as: ‘Something’s just there,'” Height said. “It didn’t stop my effort. It didn’t stop me wanting to hunt the quarterback.”

On the first play of the Broncos game, Height, seemingly out of the play after Jaylen Waddle had been tackled just beyond the line of scrimmage, sprinted over to the receiver and did a Superman leap over his body. Was it to test out his new piece of equipment? To see if he could still brace his fall with essentially one working hand?

“That was just me blacked out,” Height said, “trying to get to the ball.”

Height doesn’t know how long he’ll need to wear the cast during games. He doesn’t care either, saying: “I mean, it’s not really a difference for me. At the end of the day, I gotta go out and do my job.”

“I love the way he competes, the way he plays,” defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said. “He’s gonna go out there regardless. He might have two clubs on and go out there. He’s that kind of guy.”

Thursday’s practice: Nickel back Upton Stout (shoulder) returned to practice, wearing a blue non-contact jersey, after not participating on Wednesday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan had previously said the 49ers are hopeful Stout can play against Seattle. 

Wide receiver Mike Evans (ribs) went from a limited participant Wednesday to a non-participant Thursday. Evans worked on a side field during the open viewing portion, as did defensive end Nick Bosa (calf) for the first time since suffering his injury ahead of a Week 3 practice. Shanahan said Thursday on KNBR that Bosa is “getting better each week,” and that he is not “far from playing.”

“We would love to get him out there before our bye week,” Shanahan said of Bosa, “but still too early to tell.”

Players who were upgraded to full participation on Thursday: running back Kaelon Black (illness), linebacker Dre Greenlaw (rest), running back Christian McCaffrey (rest) and tackle Trent Williams (rest).

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This article originally published at 49ers DE Romello Height inspired by Patrick Willis to play through broken hand.