What was Dominick Puni's one regret from his stellar 49ers rookie season?

San Francisco Chronicle​

27-07-2025

Dominick Puni smiled and shook his head. Yes, the San Francisco 49ers right guard said, he knew all about the painful play in question.
It was the first quarter of the 49ers' win over the Patriots in Week 4 last September. On a 1-yard run by Jordan Mason, Puni made a second-level block on linebacker Raekwon McMillan, who drove him backward as Mason was tackled into Puni's back. Puni stayed down after he was sandwiched, and Spencer Burford entered to replace him after Puni arose and walked to the sideline with trainers.
Puni had the wind knocked out of him, and missed just one play. The reason for his rueful smile last week? It was his only absence during a rookie season in which he played 1,078 of 1,079 snaps.
'Man, I regret it,' Puni said. 'I wish I could have gotten up and stuck it out. It would have been cool (to play every snap), but I couldn't breathe.'
Puni just missed joining an exclusive ironman club – only nine NFL players were on the field for 100% of their team's offensive snaps in 2024 – but he had few other regrets from a debut season marked by excellence.
Puni, a third-round pick, was the star pupil of what appears to be a stellar eight-man draft class. He established himself as the starter early in training camp and, by October, left tackle Trent Williams was calling him a 'godsend' with 'Pro Bowl/All-Pro' potential. Puni allowed three sacks (none in his first 10 games), earned Pro Football Focus' fifth-highest grade (80.5) among qualifying guards and was named to the Pro Football Writers of America's all-rookie team.
After the season, Puni's exit interview with Kyle Shanahan, his exacting head coach, wasn't marked by talk of areas in which he needed to improve in Year 2.
'It was a good conversation,' Puni said. 'It was more about looking ahead to the next year and having our rookie class take the next step.'
That message isn't surprising. Shanahan has often discussed how players tend to exhale after successful first seasons, and how the loss of focus and hunger leads to sophomore slumps.
Asked about that danger, Puni's answer suggested he's also a quick study when it comes to the realities of a cutthroat league. He's not eligible for a contract extension until the end of his third year and he believes his relatively modest salary – he'll count $1.295 million against the salary cap this season – means he could quickly take a seat on the sideline if he takes a step back.
'My mindset is that you never really have a spot,' Puni said. 'Just being real, your first four years -- until you get paid the big bucks -- you're not solidified. If you're getting $30 million, it's hard not to play that guy. But as a young guy, if you have a bad season, people will start to question you. I've kept that in the forefront of my mind: I haven't done anything yet and I can't be satisfied.'
Puni thinks his small-time background helps guard against a big-headed belief that he's already arrived. He was a no-star prep recruit who spent his first three seasons at Division II Central Missouri before transferring to Kansas. His journey has fostered humility and gratitude. He appreciates the opportunity he now has in the NFL – he didn't expect to have a pro career three years ago – and doesn't intend to waste it.
'When I transferred from UCM to Kansas, the coaches kept telling me, 'Man, you're grateful for this free Gatorade,'' Puni said. 'I'm like, 'Yeah, we didn't get this at UCM.' I was buying my Gatorade from the gas station. And I would be really excited to drink it after practice.
'But in the NFL you can take whatever you want home. And you have all the tools in the world. The training room. The hot tub. The cold tub. When you don't know what you have, it's hard to be grateful for it.'
Still, it took Puni time to make use of all his resources last year. He typically lifted a few weights on the day after games during the first half of the regular season before he began following the counsel of offensive line coach Chris Foerster and veteran teammates. Foerster has noted rookies often bounce back faster than older players, but those who don't develop a recovery routine pay a price as they age.
Puni finished the season spending time in hot and cold tubs and getting massages.
'I think in college you can get away with it because it's 12 games and you can tough it out,' Puni said. 'But in the NFL, your body is talking to you like, 'How much do have left?''
Puni thinks his latter-season routine allowed him to successfully finish his 17-game, 1,078-snap grind. Of course, he wishes it had been 1,079 snaps. But the play he missed provides even more motivation for a second-year player intent on avoiding a sophomore slump.
'Hopefully, this year I can stick it out every play,' Puni said. 'That's the goal.'