George Kittle has not had a setback, will practice this week

SANTA CLARA, CA - AUGUST 13: George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers walks on the field before a preseason NFL game against the Tennessee Titans on August 13, 2026 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

A throwaway comment from Kyle Shanahan had raised suspicion George Kittle has suffered a setback in his recovery from a torn Achilles.

But that is clearly not the case, with a report on Sunday indicating the 49ers’ star tight end is still in with a shot of playing in San Francisco’s season opener against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Sunday that Kittle is set to return to practice this coming week. Schefter added that Kittle has not had any setbacks and still has “a legitimate chance” of playing Week 1.

Schefter’s report comes after Shanahan raised eyebrows with his remarks on Kittle following the 49ers’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders in their preseason finale.

On injuries impacting the team for Week 1, Shanahan said:

“Those are things that we got to evaluate sooner than later. There’s just guys that are going to be close, guys like Mykel Williams, guys like George Kittle who are taking a step back. I want to see how Nick Bosa does in these practices. They’re guys who are healthy and doing good, but are they ready to get back and play right away? That’s why we have these mandatory three days off right now. When we get back, we have those two and a half days before we get on the plane, in those two and a half days we’ll see our practice schedule, we’ll at least get two big ones in maybe a possible third. I’m really curious to how it goes those three days before we go down there.”

It may have just been a clumsy choice of words from Shanahan, but Kittle’s return to practice is no guarantee of him featuring in Week 1. It would not be advisable for Kittle to rush his return, particularly for a game that involves traveling on a 15-hour flight.

The smart play would likely be to bring Kittle along slowly and have him make his season debut in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins.

But if there is a chance Kittle can play against a division rival, he will likely to push to make sure he does. The 49ers have difficult decisions to make in terms of their roster cuts, but their most important choice ahead of Week 1 will be to decide whether to protect one of their most important offensive players from himself.