Kittle comeback in play; Mostert shut down for season

Tight end George Kittle is on pace to play Saturday when the 49ers, despite being eliminated from playoff contention, play the host Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.

Kittle has been out since sustaining a Nov. 1 foot fracture in Seattle.

His return would coincide with that of his former Iowa quarterback, C. J. Beathard, who will start for the first time in two years — that last start also coming against the Cardinals in Arizona (an 18-15, last-minute loss on Oct. 28, 2018).

Beathard takes over in place of Nick Mullens, who sustained an elbow injury in Sunday’s loss at Dallas and likely will require Tommy John reconstruction surgery, coach Kyle Shanahan said.

Also ruled out the remaining two games are running back Raheem Mostert (ankle) and wide receiver Deebo Samuel ( hamstring).

Why play Kittle when the 49ers (5- 9) have been eliminated?

“If he’s healthy I don’t see the reason why not to. Same with every other player on our roster,” Shanahan said. “We’d never ask him to play injured. Most of the soreness is going away. We’ll definitely test it again.

“If he’s 100 percent healthy, how do you sit one guy and look in the eye of everyone else on the team? There’s a respect level players have toward each other.”

Linebacker Fred Warner concurred and said the 49ers’ medical staff has done well in not rushing players back from injury, even though the team has used a franchise record 70 players this season.

“They’re not going to put George on the field unless he’s 100 percent healthy and ready to compete at the same level before he got hurt,” Warner said. “I know George as a person and as a player. He wants to go out there and compete with us whenever he can.

“All that other talk about not making the playoffs or sitting him, I don’t know that. If you’re healthy and a veteran, you’re going to want to compete.”