With a suddenly crucial Week 2 game coming up against the Seahawks, the 49ers still have questions about their star tight end.
Seattle surprised on Monday night with a win over the Russell Wilson-led Denver Broncos after some questionable late-game decision making by Nathaniel Hackett, leaving them as the only team with a win in the NFC West.
There is forecast for rain again on Sunday, but does that forecast include George Kittle?
General manager John Lynch joined KNBR on Friday morning and provided an update on Kittle. While he’s improving, there’s not too much clarity at this stage.
“He’s getting better, George is, and he’s working really diligently to do so,” Lynch said. “I said last week and this wasn’t playing games, it’s just the truth; with a player like George, you wait right up until game time and you rely on your medical team, your health and performance team. This is a long season, but every game is takes on great import, especially the division ones so we’re going to hold out hope that George is ready. We’ll see if we get him out here today. I think that’s critical. And if that doesn’t happen, it’s probably not looking good. But George is a type of player that you even wait till Sunday.”
So if Kittle doesn’t practice on Friday, it’s unlikely he plays Sunday.
But Kittle is also the type of player who can play without practicing in a week, and did so last season. Though two weeks without practice, in just Week 2 of the season, might give the 49ers some pause.
“I think it’s going to go right down to the wire,” Lynch said. “He is improving, though, and we just want to make sure we have a healthy Kittle for the entirety of the season.”
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