George Kittle Status Uncertain

The San Francisco 49ers are not abandoning hope of having George Kittle available to face the Bears at Soldier Field.

Although Kittle has not practiced all week due to a groin injury, the 49ers have listed him as questionable for the game. It's an injury from practice early in the week or late last week.

The top two 49ers backup tight ends in terms of experience are Ross Dwelley and Tyler Kroft. Dwelley has 40 catches for 401 yards and four TDs in four seasons with 17 starts for the 49ers, while Kroft is a former Bengals, Bills and Jets tight end who has 101 catches for 1,024 yards and 13 TDs in seven years.

They also have Charlie Woerner, a sixth-round pick in 2020 who has made eight receptions.

Sometimes the 49ers will turn to fullback Kyle Juszczyk in a tight end type of role, as well.

"I think they’re good, solid players," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said about the 49ers backups. "Obviously no one is George Kittle. Kittle is Kittle. He is a special human and he’s got a dynamic play to him in terms of his effort, his attitude, his blocking, his run after the catch.

"But the other guys, they’ll fill in and do a good job. Juice is there (Juszczyk), can do a lot of things for them; he’s a spot player, (they) put him all over the place. It’ll be good."

Kittle made 71 receptions last year even though he missed three games with injuries.

Backup center Daniel Brunskill is their only other player listed on the 49ers injury report at week's end. He has been ruled out for the game due to a hamstring injury.

Last week receiver Deebo Samuel had been suffering from a bruise to the back of his knee but recovered enough to practice all week.

The 49ers will be going against a Bears defensive front that could have a different look.

The Bears on Friday released veteran defensive tackle Mike Pennel. They also cut practice squad defensive lineman Sam Kamara.

As a result, the Bears will need to promote someone from the practice squad or sign someone to get to 53 players now, while adding another player to the practice squad.

Even after cutting Kamara, they do have one defensive lineman on the practice squad who could play in a game and that's Trevon Coley, the defensive tackle who was with the Colts in the past and led them in preseason with three sacks.

Pennel had been with the Bears since the beginning of the second minicamp in mid-June. The difficult part for him is he was with the Bears last year in the offseason under Ryan Poles, then was cut before the regular season started. So, it's a similar scenario.

Pennel wound up with the Atlanta Falcons last year after the Bears cut him. The eight-year veteran played in 10 games and made 21 tackles.

Kamara was in eight games last year while moving between the 53-man roster and the practice squad. He had a pass deflection and 10 tackles, including one for loss.

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