San Francisco 49ers All-Pro tight end George Kittle was a bit too optimistic about his recent injury, hoping only to miss about a couple of weeks. The San Francisco 49ers medical staff disagreed, feeling Kittle would need to miss about eight weeks or so.
49ers general manager John Lynch provided some more specifics about Kittle's injury, which occurred during the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
"As soon as we learned what happened, the severity, right away, the X-ray, we said, 'I think we're good,'" Lynch told Greg Papa for an interview that will air on NBC Sports Bay Area but was shared early on KNBR. "Now we've got to look at foot sprains and things because he is uncomfortable.
"The next day, they did a high-resolution, I think a CT scan, which revealed the fracture in kind of an odd bone. It's not the typical Jones fracture. It's something else. I wouldn't even try to say it. It's an odd football injury, but I think better than the Jones fracture.
"So, the prognosis is good, long-term. It's just going to take a little while. The exact time, we're still trying to zero in on that. With feet, there's people who specialize in this, so you get those opinions, and then they coordinator with our docs, and we get kind of our timeline. So, that's still up in the air."
Lynch then revealed that the injury was to Kittle's cuboid bone, and the tight end would not need surgery but will have to wear a protective boot and be unable to put weight on the foot for about a week. After that, he will need to continue wearing the boot for a couple of weeks but will be able to put some pressure on it and walk around.
Then you have quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who suffered an ankle injury earlier in the same game. Head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed this week that the injury wasn't necessarily a reaggravation of the high-ankle sprain he suffered during Week 2, but it was actually a new injury in the same area.
Surgery could be an option for Garoppolo. Of course, that would mean the end of his season.
"That's what they're trying to ascertain right now," Lynch said. "What they know is that it was kind of on the mild spectrum of a high-ankle, the first one he had, and that he only had one of the ligaments involved. Now, he's reinjured that one ligament to a higher extent and then also got one of the other ones.
"So then you start looking at is this something that we need to surgically stabilize, and there's no exact answer on that. It's kind of a feel from the docs, and they want to do some different imaging.
"Again, I think because you're dealing with specialists, and they coordinate with our doctors, we're in the process of still getting all that information. The exact prognosis might take a little time whether Jimmy has surgery or not."