Joe Staley looks forward to giving Reuben Foster a hug

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Linebacker Reuben Foster, cleared of charges that could have ended his time with the 49ers after one season, is scheduled to be back at work at the team’s Santa Clara practice facility on Thursday.

Foster has not taken part in the 49ers’ offseason program, which opened on April 16. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed two felony domestic violence charges against Foster on April 12 – charges the 49ers labeled as “disturbing.”

Judge Nona L. Klippen announced on Wednesday she found no merit in the accusations. During testimony last week, the woman who initially made the claims said she lied about Foster’s actions during the alleged incident on Feb. 11 in Los Gatos for her own financial gain and to ruin Foster’s career. She recanted her statements to police two days later, but the DA's office pressed forward with the charges.

The felony domestic violence charges against Foster were dropped, and a felony charge of possession of an assault weapon was reduced to a misdemeanor on Wednesday.

Tackle Joe Staley, the longest-tenured 49ers player, said he has seen Foster this offseason and looks forward to one of the team’s top young players rejoining his teammates.

“Just real excited about that, the news,” Staley said Wednesday night at the 49ers' State of the Franchise event in San Jose. “Obviously, that’s real positive. So (I’m) excited to see him come back whenever he comes back to the building, and give him a hug and move forward.”

Reference to Foster's victory in court from a team employee was greeted with enthusiastic cheers among many of the approximate 1,100 attendees at the event.

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