Kittle questionable with sprained knee
AllPro tight end George Kittle suffered a sprained left knee in the 49ers’ seasonopening 2420 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday and his availability for their Week 2 meeting at the Jets is in question.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday more will be known about Kittle’s prognosis before the first practice of the week.
“He was a little sore today,” Shanahan said. “We’ll wait to see how he is on Wednesday to see if he’s able to practice, or if he’s able to go this week. There will be some question.”
Kittle was injured late in the first half Sunday when he was hit around the knees by safety Budda Baker while jumping to catch an overthrown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo.
Kittle went to the locker room to be examined just before halftime, but returned for the second half. He wasn’t targeted with a pass in the final two quarters after he had four catches for 44 yards on five targets in the first half.
Shanahan maintained Kittle’s injury wasn’t a factor in his zerocatch second half.
“You go off what the player says and what the doctors say and Kittle was good to go,” Shanahan said. “He did a hell of a job for us in the second half. (The injury) had nothing to do with his stats. That had more to do with how they’re (covering him) and the people they’re putting on him. … When he tells you he’s all right and you look at him and watch him move — he was good to go in that game.”
Samuel setback: Wide receiver Deebo Samuel was placed on shortterm injured reserve Saturday because he had a setback last week in his attempt to return from a broken foot he suffered in midJune.
The 49ers initially had optimism Samuel could play in Sunday’s season opener. However, Samuel’s foot became sore after running one day and the pain intensified.
“It just got worse and worse after one specific day,” Shanahan said. “After one day when it was sore, we thought it was just because he worked it hard. But then that got worse each day, not better.”
Samuel is eligible to return in Week 4, when the 49ers host the Eagles on Oct. 4. Shanahan didn’t commit to Samuel missing just three games.
“We’re really hoping to get him back by the Eagles game,” Shanahan said. “But we’ve got to see how this heals and how it goes right now.”
Sanu a possibility: The 49ers finished Sunday’s game with just three healthy wide receivers, but Shanahan expects rookie firstround pick Brandon Aiyuk (hamstring) to be available to face the Jets.
However, it’s not known if wide receiver Richie James (hamstring) will be able to play after he exited the season opener in the second half.
The 49ers have three wideouts on the practice squad, but
Shanahan didn’t rule out signing free agent Mohamed Sanu, 31, an eightyear veteran he coached in 2016 in Atlanta. The 49ers explored adding Sanu last year at the trade deadline.
“We’ll see how these injuries go, but I love Sanu,” Shanahan said when asked about the wideout. “He’s a hell of a player. So him being out there is always a possibility. We’ll look into everything we have, though. But I wouldn’t rule that out at all. He’s available, and he’s definitely a guy I really respect. And I think everyone in this league respects.”
Sanu was released by the Patriots on Sept. 3 after New England acquired him for a secondround pick last year. He had 59 catches for 520 yards last season with the Falcons and Patriots.