George Kittle is still holding out hope that he’ll be on the field when the 49ers open the season, and both the team and the medical staff sound willing to entertain that possibility.
Kittle, who is on the PUP list while recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in a postseason game in January, said he remains “Very confident. Sooner than later,” according to David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com.
He added, “I’m just going to keep that as my goal, and then we’ll adjust from there if we need to. But I still believe that.
My team still believes that. My surgeon still believes I have a chance.
So, just keep attacking it.”
For now, the next stretch of practice will be the real test. Kittle said he still needs padded work before he can get full clearance, and he’s treating the coming weeks as the key window for figuring out whether Week 1 is realistic.
“Like I’ve said, I have a chance [to play Week 1]. We’re running around a lot, hitting top speeds.
Hopefully, we’re back in pads, practicing sooner than later. Just trying to check the boxes and not be a dumbass, is what I would say.”
Kyle Shanahan didn’t sound nearly as optimistic about one of the 49ers’ other injury situations. The coach called Week 1 “a long shot” for DE Mykel Williams because of a knee injury, though he also said Williams “is progressing well,” via Vic Tafur.
Shanahan also had an update on Nick Bosa, who is working his way back from ACL surgery. The 49ers coach said Bosa is trending the right way and dealing with less discomfort than he was a week ago.
“He’s making a lot of progress. He’s got a lot less irritation, soreness, tendinitis, whatever you want to call it, than he had last week. He’s going the right direction and I see him similar to Christian.”
Asked again about Kittle, Shanahan wouldn’t pin it to a specific date, but he did echo the general feeling around the team that the veteran tight end is moving in the right direction.
“George isn’t a big ‘put a date on it’ and I’m not going to be that dude either. You guys can tell how he’s talking and how he looks, I agree that it’s sooner than later.”
Shanahan also mentioned WR Christian Kirk, who has been dealing with a calf injury that first popped up in OTAs and then flared again at camp’s opening practice. The coach said Kirk has been frustrated by the setback.
“He’s been extremely frustrated with it. We love the guy but hopefully he can have some better luck so he get some reps out here.”
In Arizona, Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love appears to be in a much better spot after an ankle injury. Head coach Mike LaFleur said Love is okay and gave the impression that the back should be ready for Week 1, even if he misses the rest of the preseason.
“He could have returned if we needed him to, so he’s fine,” LaFleur said, via Pro Football Talk. “But again, you never know.
It’s one of those things that maybe tomorrow it’s a little more sore than the next, so we’ll take that day by day. Again, just talking to him in there, he was good and excited and happy to be out there playing.”
LaFleur also pointed to the value Love can bring as a receiver out of the backfield.
“Well, if you have a back that can run routes out of the backfield, you typically have favorable matchups,” LaFleur added on Love. “There’s obviously certain linebackers that are really good at covering guys. If you got a guy that you feel is pretty dynamic, that can obviously be a pretty big weapon for you.”
In Seattle, Sam Darnold is trying to keep his focus pointed forward. The Seahawks quarterback said he’s not interested in replaying the disappointments of previous stops, even if people keep asking him to.
“ A lot of people ask me, ” Darnold said, via The Athletic, “ like, ‘Come on, man. We’ve heard you say stuff about how you’re just taking it one day at a time, but you’ve got to have certain feelings about certain places you’ve been.’
But it doesn’t do me any good to have that mindset. Even if I did have certain thoughts about certain places, that doesn’t do me any good to air that out.
Even for myself, when I’m home with my wife, I don’t like talking about things that happened three or four years ago. It’s just like, what are we doing?
You know what I mean? That’s just holding onto something that has no meaning.
I hold onto the lessons I learned during that time, but it’s just a waste of brain space to think about stuff like that.”
Darnold said the uncertainty of earlier years weighed on him, with apartment living and no clear sense of where he’d land next. Now that he’s in Seattle, he’s embracing the stability.
“ That’s always the dream, right? ” Darnold said.
“ But you just never know what’s going to happen. That’s why, for my entire career, I’ve treated everything - I would say one year at a time, but it’s really one day at a time.
I don’t look past today. We’ve got to crush tonight’s meetings.
And tonight, I’m going to look at tomorrow’s script and make sure I’m ready for tomorrow’s practice. I just do everything I can to be the best quarterback for this team as long as I’m the quarterback and just go from there.”
He also said he feels prepared for pressure moments late in games, explaining that repetition has made those situations feel natural.
“ I think I’ve always been comfortable in that situation, but I also think it’s about practicing the moment and visualizing it, ” Darnold said. “ It was like, all right, this is what we’re going to call.
By that time last year, I knew exactly what our coordinator was going to call, and you know what routes we like for certain coverages, what I could check into against certain coverages. It’s just being glued into those situations, having done them so much in walk-throughs to where it’s like, OK, I know exactly what we’re doing.
I think that’s where the comfort comes from. ”
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