Garoppolo still out, Kittle to play vs. Eagles
SANTA CLARA — It’s looking more and more like Nick Mullens will start his second consecutive game for the 49ers on Sunday night.
That’s because starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo missed his second straight day of practice Thursday, a day after coach Kyle Shanahan indicated he wanted to see Garoppolo be able to move around and protect himself on his injured right ankle. Garoppolo suffered a high ankle sprain during the Week 2 victory over the New York Jets.
“Anytime you’re dealing with an ankle, you might feel all right when you’re standing there, but can you move around and get into the awkward positions without hurting yourself? That’s really what we’d have to see,” Shanahan said
Wednesday. “It would be tough for us to see that and truly judge that if he didn’t get into practice.”
There remains an outside chance Garoppolo practices on Friday, though that session is typically a walk through and might be difficult to gauge Garoppolo’s progress. Perhaps Mullens’ play from last week against the Giants, when he threw for 343 yards in the 36-9 blowout, will make the decision easier for Shanahan.
It also appears more likely after Thursday the team’s top receiver Deebo Samuel will be back on the field for his 2020 debut Sunday night. Samuel, who broke his foot in June, remains on the injured reserve list but can practice because the team opened his practice window this week. He would need to be added to the active roster by
Saturday afternoon to be eligible to play Sunday night against Philadelphia.
Kittle expects to make return — San Francisco tight end George Kittle confirmed the expected on Thursday, saying he plans to play Sunday after missing two games with a left knee sprain.
“Knowing that I’m going to be healthy, I can go out there and play and not be worried about anything,” Kittle said Thursday. “Just let is loose, that’s what I’m looking forward to. Once you get over that hump and you know that you’re going to be back and you’re going to be fine, it makes it a lot easier.”
Kittle, who has a knack for playing through pain, said he could have played Week 2, just a week after the injury in the opener. He was a full participant in both practices this week after being limited in three sessions before last week’s game. The time off ensured Kittle had more time to get his knee right and avoid having a setback on the artificial turf at MetLife Stadium.