The San Francisco 49ers opened the practice window for George Kittle last week, and head coach Kyle Shanahan says there is a chance the tight end plays in Saturday's game against the Arizona Cardinals.
On Tuesday, the 49ers also opened the practice window for Jimmy Garoppolo. However, Shanahan doesn't expect the quarterback to play on Saturday, despite Nick Mullens being lost for the season with an elbow injury. C.J. Beathard will likely get the start against the Cardinals. Running back Raheem Mostert has also been lost for the season due to an ankle injury.
As for Kittle, Shanahan and the 49ers are confident that the risk of re-injury is low.
"I think he's got a chance this week," Shanahan said. "That was the point of getting him back at practice last week, to see how he responded. I know he responded good from a medical standpoint and from him, so I'm looking to see how he is this week, and if he's good, I plan on him playing."
Shanahan was asked why he would consider playing Kittle now that the 49ers have been eliminated from the playoffs.
"If he's healthy, I just don't see the reason why not to," Shanahan responded. "It's the same as every other player on our roster. If you're healthy, and you're not risking something -- I mean, we would never ask him to play injured or anything like that. But he had a good week of practice last week, most of the soreness is going away, and we're definitely going to test it again this week.
"But when you have a guy, if he's 100 percent healthy and stuff, how do you sit one guy and then look at everybody else in the eye on the team? There probably isn't anybody playing out there 100 percent healthy right now."