49ers Are Getting the Best-Case Scenario With George Kittle

When George Kittle tore his Achilles in the Wild Card playoff game, it immediately placed his availability for the start of the 2026 season in doubt.

Suffering a significant injury like that in January will typically knock a player out for almost half of a season. It happened to Dre Greenlaw when he tore his Achilles in the Super Bowl.

Yet somehow, Kittle has a chance - dare I say a good chance - at being ready for Week 1 of the upcoming season. Here’s what he had to say about his Achilles during Week 2 of OTAs.

“My Achilles is doing great,” Kittle said. “No setbacks in my recovery. Checking all the boxes, doing everything I’m supposed to do. My surgeon’s super happy; my physical therapist in L.A. who works with him is super happy. Niners are happy, I’m happy.”

49ers are getting the best-case scenario

Jan 11, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) is carted off the field after an injury during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC Wild Card Round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

This is the best-case scenario for Kittle and the 49ers. He’s doing phenomenal to heal and work his way back from the most significant injury of his career.

Even if he’s not ready by Week 1, he’ll be close to it. Kittle alluded to it during exit interviews from the 2025 season that his Achilles tear was higher up on the tendon.

Apparently, that means it’s better for recovery as opposed to most Achilles tears that take place in the lower part of the tendon. In any case, Kittle is on a perfect track.

Now, he hasn’t begun to do any football activities or movements. That would be the part that gives pause to his optimism, especially since he revealed that he began to jog recently.

“I got back to 100% body weight jogging two weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago. I haven’t really been able to do too much,” Kittle said. “At this point, there’s boxes you have to check before you’re cleared to do something else.

“Once I’m actually allowed to go train the way I want to train, then it’ll be really fun to go back doing all of the football movements I want to do — run blocking, pass pro, running routes, catching the ball. Then it’s just knocking some of the rust off cause I haven’t done a lot since January.”

The rust element is a key factor here. Kittle’s Achilles may be healing at a great pace, but what about the rest of his body? He’ll need an adequate ramp-up period before playing a game.

I wouldn’t buy stock in Kittle being ready by Week 1. His Achilles probably will be, but the 49ers need to give him time to get his body back into football shape.

Aside from that, he’s in a fantastic scenario given the severity of his injury

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