SANTA CLARA —It is common for offensive and defensive linemen to engage in one-on-one pass-rush battles on back-to-back snaps during training camp.
But what Colton McKivitz and Nick Bosa did organically at the outset of 49ers practice Tuesday was unique.
Bosa, a five-time Pro Bowl player, got the upper hand against McKivitz on their first head-to-head matchup with a spin move that put McKivitz on the ground.
McKivitz was the winner of the next rep just moments later when Bosa was off-balance at the snap of the ball and could not recover.
Apparently not pleased with the quality of that performance, Bosa indicated he wanted another chance against McKivitz.
The third time showcased a competitive tussle in which McKivitz grappled with Bosa to the point it was difficult to assign a winner.
That sequence summed up what McKivitz recently revealed to NBC Sports Bay Area about his mindset for the season.
“A key word that I’m using this year is, ‘Fight,’” McKivitz said. “I do a lot better when things are kind of hectic and in chaos and when I’m fighting for something. I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to make things a little more chaotic.”
McKivitz, who turns 29 on Aug. 9, enters his third season as the 49ers’ unchallenged starter at right tackle. He is in a fight for his next contract.
McKivitz is in the final year of his contract. A strong season could set him up for a lucrative multi-year contract — with the 49ers or one of the many NFL teams looking for help on the offensive line.
Sure, he is fighting for a contract. But he also is fighting for so much more, he said.
“With everything in life, when things get hard, don’t quit, fight through it, persevere,” he said. “But then, fight for more. Don’t get complacent. I mean, I saw what happened when I got complacent. Four years ago, I got cut, and, for me, that’s always been a thing that’s kind of haunted me. But now it’s something that I’m using as I move forward.”
The 49ers selected McKivitz in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of West Virginia. He appeared in 14 games as a rookie, with three starts.
He knew he was not a sure thing to win a spot on the 53-man to begin his second year in the NFL. McKivitz competed against veteran Tom Compton for a backup spot behind starters Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey.
Coach Kyle Shanahan called McKivitz into his office on cut-down day. And that led to an awkward exchange.
“Kyle was like, ‘Hey you know why you’re here, right?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And then he says, ‘You didn’t make the team.’
“But I thought he said, ‘You made the team.’ So I let out a big gasp and said, ‘Oh, thank God!”
“Then, he said, ‘No, you didn’t hear me right. You got cut.’ And I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.”
McKivitz initially hoped he could just close that chapter of his time with the 49ers and go somewhere else for a fresh start. But he did not find a new team, and the 49ers brought him back to the practice squad.
“You can get pretty jaded,” McKivitz said. “You can think, ‘They don’t want me; they don’t think good enough; I don’t want to be here; I hate this place and get mad at people.’
“And that was me for a couple weeks. And then I turn that into, you know, I get to go against Bosa every day, and I can use him to help forge me into a better player.”
It is all part of the mental game that McKivitz is developing along with working on his strength, conditioning and lowering his body fat leading into this season.
“I made myself take my shirt off during workouts,” McKivitz said. “It’s like, if you don’t like what you’re seeing, do something about it. Put it all out there. That’s just a lot of mental growth. I’ve learned to love myself.”
McKivitz works regularly with Tareq Azim, who founded the Empower Performance Institute. Azim assists him in “game-planning for life,” McKivitz said. He has also taken the initiative to work with youth to share the lessons he has learned — many lessons learned the hard way.
Just prior to the start of training camp, McKivitz mentored a group of young men in the CM68 Trenches Youth Empowerment Camp, including a challenging quad workout up San Francisco’s Russian Hill.
McKivitz is coming off a season in which he allowed just two quarterback sacks while starting all 17 games. PFF graded him tied for 12th among all NFL right tackles.
Coincidentally, his grade was the same as McGlinchey, who left the 49ers in 2023 to sign with the Denver Broncos on a contract that pays him an average salary of $17.5 million.
McKivitz enters the final year of a deal that averages $5.85 million a year.
He said he is ready to fight this season to be recognized as a top right tackle in the NFL.
“I’m going to be a Pro Bowler this year,” he said. “I’ve told countless people. I’m just putting it out there just because that’s going to hold me accountable and get me to where I want to go.
“If you don’t fight for it, you won’t get it.”
Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast