George Kittle can’t tell the difference between Jimmy Garoppolo now and day one with the 49ers

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle sat down with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic this week for the sports writer's podcast and discussed his impressive 2018 campaign, the team's future, his love for Panda Express, and more.

The 49ers kicked off phase one of their offseason program last week, which is limited to strength and conditioning work. Jimmy Garoppolo has his own workout regiment as he rehabs from a torn ACL suffered in September. He was, however, part of a small group of offensive players who held an unofficial throwing session last week on San Jose State's football field.

Kawakami had to ask Kittle about the status of his quarterback. The tight end's response leads you to believe he has seen Garoppolo throw a pass or two over the past week or so.

"I can't tell the difference from day one when he showed up, and he beat the Jaguars, compared to today," Kittle told Kawakami. "But arm looks great, and I know he feels good."

That's good news for the 49ers, who hope to have Garoppolo throwing during 7-on-7 drills and doing other non-contact work when organized team activities kick off in late-May. San Francisco still plans to have him be the starter come Week 1 of the regular season.

Garoppolo shared with reporters last week what it has been like throwing again.

"Very good to be throwing again," said the quarterback. "It's what I do, you know? It's encouraging. Every day gets easier and easier. Able to make this throw better than I was a week ago. It's small victories like that. Throughout the whole process, it's all about small victories because you're not going to jump out and be able to throw it 60, 70 yards again. Small victories."