Kittle craves more involvement in offense
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — George Kittle hasn’t been barking to get the ball more. At least not to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
This week, after the San Francisco 49ers’ All-Pro tight end matched a career low with two targets in last Sunday’s 2216 win over the Chargers, he was asked whether he’d talked with Shanahan about his involvement in the passing game this season.
Kittle said he hadn’t broached the topic with his coach. But quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was another matter.
“Have I walked into (Shanahan’s) office and said, ‘Give me the ball’? No. I haven’t done that,” Kittle said. “But I tell Jimmy on the sidelines all the time — I always tell him, ‘Hey, I’m open. I’m in one-on-one coverage. I’m available. Just throw me the ball when you need me.’ ”
Kittle, 29, who had one catch for 21 yards against the Chargers, has 29 catches for 340 yards with two touchdowns in seven games this season. His targets (5.9) and yards-pergame average (48.6) would be the lowest since his rookie season in 2017 when he was a parttime starter. And his yards-percatch average (11.7) would be a career low.
Kittle’s numbers are partly a reflection of the 49ers’ host of
skill-position options. Nineteen of Garoppolo’s 28 passes against the Chargers were targeted for wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk (seven) and Deebo Samuel (six) and running back Christian McCaffrey (six).
“I’d love more than two targets,” Kittle said. “But it is what it is. We’re winning the game. But, yeah, I love the ball in my hands and I like providing a spark for the offense.”
Less work: McCaffrey played 65% of the offensive snaps against the Chargers, which is less than he was accustomed to during his five-plus seasons with the Panthers.
This season, before he was traded to the 49ers, he never played fewer than 80% of the snaps in six games with Carolina. McCaffrey (18 touches) and Elijah Mitchell (19) roughly split the backfield workload against
the Chargers.
McCaffrey had 38 yards on 14 carries. Mitchell had 89 yards on 18 carries.
“When you’re on a team with a lot of different weapons that kind of naturally happens, which is a good thing,” McCaffrey said. “You want to see guys go out there and make plays. And when your number is called, you’ve got to make the plays.
“But 100% it’s good to stay fresh. Stay fresh throughout a game. And stay fresh throughout a season.”
New locale: The 49ers practiced indoors at the Air Force Academy’s Holaday Athletic Center because snow was covering the practice field they used Wednesday.
It’s fair to say the mid-November conditions weren’t what the 49ers envisioned in the offseason. They arranged to practice in Colorado this week to acclimate to the altitude before they play the Cardinals in Mexico City on Monday night.
Shanahan, who spent much of his childhood in Denver, acknowledged Thursday he was caught off-guard.
“I know here usually about this time of year, it’s like 50,” Shanahan said. “It feels cold.”
The average high temperature in Colorado Springs on Nov. 18 is 49 degrees, according to weatherspark.com. It was 16 degrees when the 49ers began practice Thursday afternoon.
Shanahan has preferred for the 49ers to use grass fields when they practice away from the Bay Area during extended road trips. They were on artificial turf during Thursday’s indoor practice.