George Kittle’s hamstring injury situation goes from bad to worse after 49ers’ latest decision
The San Francisco 49ers have been dealing with injuries to key players, well, since before the start of the 2024 season even began.George Kittle managed to avoid the injury bug for the most part. That is, until Week 1 of the 2025 regular season. The 49ers’ All-Pro tight end suffered a hamstring injury during the […]
The San Francisco 49ers have been dealing with injuries to key players, well, since before the start of the 2024 season even began.
George Kittle managed to avoid the injury bug for the most part. That is, until Week 1 of the 2025 regular season. The 49ers’ All-Pro tight end suffered a hamstring injury during the 49ers’ 17-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks that forced him out of the game after playing just 21 snaps on offense.
Speculation quickly arose to the injury’s severity and once the 49ers received more information, Kittle’s status for Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints became murky.
Everyone found out just how long Kittle will be out on Tuesday when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the 49ers placed Kittle on short-term IR. He’ll miss the next four games, at minimum, which are contests against the aforementioned Saints and then the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Los Angeles Rams.
49ers’ passing attack takes another big hit with Kittle out for the foreseeable future
The 49ers are already without star wideout Brandon Aiyuk until later in the year. Demarcus Robinson is suspended for two more games, and Brock Purdy was injured during Sunday’s win over the Seahawks.
It’s safe to say the Niners are probably going to be relying more on the duo of Christian McCaffrey and Brian Robinson as they await the passing attack to return to full health. Fortunately, both players are effective pass-catchers, which obviously helps the current state of the passing game.
When it comes to replacing Kittle, free agent addition Luke Farrell is expected to step up and help fill the void. Behind him is 2023 UDFA Jake Tonges and that’s it. With Kittle on IR, the 49ers now have an extra roster spot, so they should either sign 2023 seventh-rounder Brayden Willis from the practice squad to the active roster or make an outside addition. Since Kittle’s injury is of the short-term variety, they’ll likely sign Willis, but obviously only time will tell.