In February, it was learned that San Francisco 49ers star tight end George Kittle was “aiming to be back” in the lineup for Week 1 of the 2026 regular season after he suffered a torn Achilles tendon during a January playoff game.
On the latest edition of the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast, Kittle insisted that he is “doing great” in his recovery from that setback.
George Kittle where he wants to be in injury recovery
“My trajectory is fantastic,” Kittle explained, per Florito Maniego of NBC Sports Bay Area. “I think I get off of crutches in like a week or two, and [the medical staff] told me the hardest thing to do is walk after an Achilles…That’s the hardest jump is to go from crutches to walking, and then after that, they’re like, you’ll get to running so fast after that…But no, everything is going great with it. I’m exactly where I want to be.”
Kittle went down during the 49ers’ wild-card playoff win at the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 11 of this year. Typically, a recovery timeline for such an injury would make it highly unlikely that Kittle or anybody else would be able to return to action in the first half of September.
The Niners recently added big-name wide receiver Mike Evans to their roster (with some help from Kittle), so it’s safe to assume that the hope among San Francisco coaches is that there won’t be any need to rush Kittle back before some point in the fall.
Did a previous injury lead to George Kittle suffering a torn Achilles?
As Taylor Wirth shared for NBC Sports Bay Area, Kittle revealed during the podcast that he first began dealing with an issue during the 49ers’ “Monday Night Football” game versus the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 22.
“I tore like two ligaments in my ankle, and then I hurt it again because I kept playing on it,” Kittle explained. “And then I was like very lopsided, or I was compensating really bad, so I think that was a big part of it too. …Like I was compensating for the last three weeks on one ankle, so all the weight was on my right side, I was basically running on my right side. Plus, it was a weird position. That would be my best guess. I don’t know.”
Kittle may never know if he or the 49ers could have done something to prevent his Achilles injury from happening. He will now focus on returning to full fitness as soon as possible in his pursuit of a first career Super Bowl ring.