George Kittle spent Week 1 looking like a player still shaking off the rust. One week later, he looked like George Kittle again.
After managing just two catches on five targets for 12 yards in his return to the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Kittle snapped back into form against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2. Back at Levi’s Stadium, he caught all four of his targets for 80 yards and a touchdown, the kind of outing that reminded everyone why he’s been such a fixture for San Francisco’s passing game.
That matters more given what Kittle has been working through. The Achilles injury that ended his 2025 season kept him out of the playoffs, and at 32 years old, with a season in which he played only 11 regular-season games because of other injuries, there was plenty of reason to wonder how quickly he’d look like himself again.
The concern wasn’t just whether he could come back. It was whether he’d come back the same player.
Against Miami, the answer started to show itself.
The biggest play came in the third quarter, when Brock Purdy hit Kittle in space and Kittle turned it into a 40-yard gain. Four plays later, Purdy found him again, this time for a touchdown.
Kittle’s third catch also marked the 600th reception of his career, another reminder of how much he has already piled up as a receiver, especially for a tight end.
For the 49ers, the early signs are encouraging. Kittle needed a game to settle in, but the second one looked a lot more familiar.
In Other News...
49ers WR Injuries Could Force A Trade For Former First Rounder
Early-season injuries have already thinned out the 49ers receiver room, and that kind of problem tends to get attention fast in Santa Clara. When the depth chart starts wobbling at wideout, the conversation usually turns from short-term patch jobs to bigger swings, especially for a team that expects to stay in the playoff hunt and cant afford to let a promising start get bogged down by attrition.
One name now floating into that discussion is Jerry Jeudy, with Bleacher Reports Moe Moton pointing to the Browns as a possible trade partner. Clevelands new coaching staff is leaning into younger players, and Jeudys role and production have both faded enough to make a deal conceivable if the price is right. For San Francisco, it is the sort of move that makes sense on paper, even if the real question is whether the 49ers feel pressure to act before the market gets thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Brock Purdy Led A 49ers Rout But The Grades Get More Interesting
Brock Purdys sharp afternoon in the 49ers 35-13 win over the Dolphins carried over into the numbers game, too. Pro Football Focus handed him the highest overall offensive grade in the NFL for Week 2 after he completed 20 of 22 passes for 287 yards, threw two touchdowns and added a rushing score, all while San Franciscos line kept him clean and did not allow a sack.
The grading also painted a fuller picture of how the offense functioned around him, with George Kittle standing out in the receiving evaluation and Kyle Juszczyk earning his usual value in the mix. Not every name landed as high, though, and the split in the grades makes the review of this rout a little more interesting for a 49ers team that looked dominant on the scoreboard but still gave PFF plenty to sort through. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Fan Captured The NFL Streaming Frustration Everyone Feels
At Levis Stadium during the 49ers home opener, one fan managed to turn a handmade sign into a small but sharp snapshot of a bigger problem around the NFLs modern viewing experience. The message spoke to what has become an increasingly familiar annoyance for fans trying to follow games online, where access is split across multiple platforms instead of sitting in one place.
Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Paramount+ and Netflix have all become part of the leagues fragmented streaming landscape, and each one comes with its own subscription hurdle. The sign struck a chord because it reflected a frustration many viewers know well, the sense that watching football digitally now requires more juggling, more spending and a lot more patience than it used to. [Read more 🡒]