Kittle to return vs. Cardinals
Saturday’s game at Arizona will end 6-game layoff for 49ers’ star tight end
Tight end George Kittle’s return from a foot fracture indeed will happen Saturday, and while he won’t have his usual heavy workload, he has his reasons to rejoin a 49ers team already ousted from playoff contention.
“That’s why I’m coming back, because I have a very sour taste in my mouth. I hate losing football games and hate when I don’t perform at a high level,” Kittle said via video conference Friday from the 49ers’ temporary home this month in Glendale, Arizona.
“Ending on an injury is not
very fun. So the fact I get two opportunities, especially against division opponents and to let them know I’m still here and will be for multiple years to come, I’m really excited about the chance to play the next two weeks.”
In Kittle’s return from a sixgame layoff, the 49ers (5-9) will look to impact the playoff prospects of the Arizona Cardinals (8- 6) on Saturday and the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks (10- 4), with both games at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium.
“He’s in great shape and is conditioned well but hasn’t played a lot of football in a while, so we’ve got to be smart with that,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said via video conference. “We don’t expect him to play 95 percent of the plays like he usually does.”
Kittle has missed the past six games since fracturing the cuboid bone in his foot. The 49ers signed him to the richest deal ever for a tight end before the season (5 years, $75 million), but that money couldn’t buy a happy rehab.
“The tough thing about breaking a foot in COVID is you can’t really condition inside. You can’t use cardio equipment,” Kittle said Thursday. “The only condition I could physically do was running, and I couldn’t run until about a couple weeks ago.
“I was a little out of shape and probably still am. But you’re going to see a lot of effort out of me and it’s going to be pretty fun.”
Kittle returned to practice last week and, according to general manager John Lynch, was medically cleared to play last Sunday’s game but the 49ers erred on the side of caution and wanted to further ramp him up this week.
Kittle said he did not really have any input in miss
ing Sunday’s 41-33 loss at Dallas. But he did for this game, with apparently little haggling over the risk factor. “(Shanahan) asked me if I wanted to play, I said, ‘Hell, yes.’ He said, ‘Sounds good.’ That was our conversation,” Kittle said.
This is the time a team’s front office and medical staff must weigh the consequences over the wants of a player and coach. And Lynch voiced his approval
Friday morning on KNBR 680-AM.
“Yes, you have to have discretion and all those things. But we’ve been very thoughtful about this and if he plays it’s only because he’s ready to play,” Lynch said. “He’s eager to play and we want him to play. He wants to be there for his teammates. We’ll always be smart in situations like this. George is a competitor and wants to be out there.