San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle got back onto the football field on Saturday after missing six games due to a broken bone in his foot. He joined his teammates and commenced doing Kittle-type things against the Arizona Cardinals, hauling in four passes for 92 yards and blocking as the team racked up 227 rushing yards on the way to a 20-12 victory.
Kittle was limited to just 28 snaps, but the tight end felt he could have gone for a lot more.
"I'll tell you, playing 28 snaps, I think I could have played another game the next day," Kittle told KNBR's Mark Willard on Tuesday morning. "That was awesome. Holy cow. ... It was fun to be back out there with the boys. I definitely missed it. Missing six weeks is not fun, especially with the season we're having right now. It was not fun just to watch for six weeks."
There was some debate amongst fans surrounding whether it was worth having Kittle play in these meaningless games to close out the season. The 49ers were already eliminated from playoff contention. Was it worth risking reinjury?
For Kittle, there was no debate.
"Well, I was healthy, so I'm going to play if I'm healthy," Kittle said. "And I know that we can't make the playoffs, but I'm a captain on this team, I'm a leader on this team, and I think I do best by leading by example. If I'm not going to go out there and play with the guys when I'm healthy -- I can't physically do that.
"I had to be out there with the guys ... I'm really glad that [Kyle Shanahan] gave me the opportunity to do that. And thank you to Jed York as well for not sidelining me. It was just, like I said, special to be back out there with the boys."
Kittle also discussed how he spent Christmas in Arizona, jokingly calling himself an "Arizona 49er." Like some of his teammates, he decided to forego staying at the team hotel and rented out an Airbnb in the area. The holiday decor included a Charlie Brown Christmas tree with a star-shaped balloon attached to the top. Kittle called his setup "authentic as all hell."
Among his gifts this year were some shoes from his wife and a chessboard from his mother.
"My mom got me a chessboard because she liked that [Netflix] show The Queen's Gambit," Kittle shared. "So, I'm going to see if I can play chess at all, and probably going to bring it in and try to whoop up on [Jimmy Garoppolo] on it."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Kittle below.