49ers quarterback Brock Purdy didn’t have the sharpest opening drive on Thursday night against the Giants. Fortunately, tight end George Kittle was able to save his quarterback some grief by batting down an errant pass that could otherwise have been intercepted.
Purdy’s throw sailed wide of the mark, and looked to be headed for New York cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Kittle noticed the pass wasn’t catchable, but reacted sharply in order to bat the ball down and prevent Jackson from recording an early pick.
After breaking up the would-be interception, Kittle hilariously celebrated like a DB, miming the act of putting on a seatbelt, joking that he’d just successfully locked down Jackson.
George Kittle hit the DB seatbelt celebration after breaking up a potential interception 😂😂pic.twitter.com/lzRosFKxa2
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 22, 2023
While Kittle won’t receive a defensive stat for his efforts on that play, he may well have prevented a costly mistake from Purdy. He seemed to know it would be too difficult to catch the ball, so he did the next best thing in ensuring that Jackson had no chance to make a play.
The veteran tight end certainly seemed to enjoy the moment, gleefully gesturing like an overexcited defensive back after a pass breakup.
San Francisco was able to tack on three points on their opening drive, courtesy of a field goal from rookie kicker Jake Moody, and of course, Kittle’s heads-up play.
