The San Francisco 49ers appear ready to welcome George Kittle back for Thursday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Rams after the star tight end spent the offseason recovering from a torn right Achilles suffered in January.
49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak made clear Tuesday that Kittle is tracking toward playing in Australia. However, San Francisco still has to determine how heavily it will use him in his first game back.
“Super impressed with how he’s looked considering the injury he had and how quickly he got back out on the field and just committed to his rehab,” Kubiak said. “And it’s been pretty cool to see Kittle out there looking like himself to me. Looking fresh. How that affects him on game day and what the workload is will be determined.”
Kittle recorded 57 receptions for 628 yards and seven touchdowns across 11 games last season. He tore his Achilles during San Francisco’s Jan. 11 playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The 49ers activated him from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list Aug. 23, and he has since regularly participated in practice, including team drills.
Kubiak said Kittle is no longer being restricted to light work as the opener approaches.
“He looks good to me,” Kubiak said. “He’s practicing full speed, he’s getting a ton of reps, so I feel like we’re in good shape.”
Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
Kubiak stopped short of officially announcing Kittle’s status because San Francisco still has two practices remaining at the time of his media availability. Asked directly about Kittle’s presence on the field come Thursday, Kubiak said the team wants to evaluate how Kittle finishes the week.
“We’ve got to see how he gets through the rest of the week — we’ve got two more practices — but Kittle looks good,” Kubiak said.
San Francisco opens its season against the Rams in Melbourne on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
