San Francisco 49ers superstar tight end George Kittle provided an optimistic update on his injury recovery process and his chances of playing in Week 1.
Kittle appeared on the Pat McAfee show and said that his goal is to play in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams.
“My goal is to be healthy for Week 1 and I’m slightly ahead of schedule," Kittle said. "Everyone who is working with me is super pumped with where I’m at… We’re very excited for the season and the boys are buzzing right now.”
The 32-year-old is recovering from surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon. Kittle suffered the injury during the Wild Card round against the Philadelphia Eagles on January 11.
George Kittle working toward successful comeback
If Kittle were to return for Week 1, it would be a little under nine months of recovery time. Considering his age and injury history, that would be an incredible feat for the future Hall of Famer.
After Kittle underwent surgery, he told reporters that his surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, described the tear as a "best-case scenario" based on its location in the Achilles tendon, a factor that could aid in his recovery process.
"Surgery went really, really good," Kittle said in January. "[ElAttrache] said best-case scenario when you tear an Achilles is that you tear it up high by your soleus, which is what I did. I had a clean tear. They didn't have to drill into my heel. And where the repair was there's more blood flow. And so it takes some time off of the recovery time... It's not as bad as other ones."
The 49ers were riddled with injuries last season, and the loss of Kittle cost them a good chance to compete with the eventual champions, the Seattle Seahawks, in the Divisional round.
Nonetheless, that is the past, and the goal for 2026 for Kittle and the 49ers is to enter the 2026 season healthy and stay that way throughout what they hope will be a long and successful journey toward a Super Bowl title.
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