The 49ers had to play their season opener without star tight end George Kittle. He suffered a groin injury the Monday before the first week of regular practices started. Kittle wound up missing the entire week of practice and Sunday’s game in Chicago. Whether he’ll be available Week 2 when the 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks is still unknown.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday in a conference call with reporters said Kittle thought he’d have a chance to play in Chicago, and now the waiting game is on for his Week 2 status.
“He thought he was, that’s why he made the trip, but we decided pretty early there Saturday night just talking to the doctors,” Shanahan said. “I haven’t really found out about him today I’ve been doing all this stuff from the people from the game, so I hope he’s ready to go Wednesday, but not sure yet. I know he’ll be working to get back this week.”
Kittle was originally listed as questionable on the official injury report for Week 1, but reports came out Saturday night that the club wanted to exercise caution with their tight end in hopes he’d be healthy for Week 2 and beyond.
With so much happening in Sunday’s game, Kittle’s absence flew under the radar as an issue for the 49ers’ offense. They’ll need him back Sunday against a Seattle team that looked excellent Monday night against the Broncos.
San Francisco will practice Wednesday, which will give us a better indication of where Kittle’s status is trending heading into the home opener.
