Happy birthday, George Kittle. Unfortunately, it looks like you won't be on the football field for the next three games. Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that the San Francisco 49ers are placing their All-Pro tight end on injured reserve. Kittle will be eligible to return for the team's Week 9 home game against the Arizona Cardinals on November 7.
Update: The 49ers officially announced the move.
Source: #49ers are placing TE George Kittle on injured reserve due to his calf injury.
Kittle must miss three games. The team believes he would be dealing with the condition all season if he continued to try to play. There's a good chance he'll be back Nov. 7 to face Cardinals.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) October 9, 2021
As Maiocco states, Kittle has been dealing with a calf injury for most of the season. This past week, he didn't practice and was listed as "doubtful" on Friday's game status report for this weekend's road matchup against the Cardinals.
Kittle has appeared in four games this season, catching 19 passes for 227 yards. His absence will be missed by rookie quarterback Trey Lance, who is starting his first career game with Jimmy Garoppolo out, also due to a calf injury.
This week, head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that Kittle's injury is unrelated to the hit he took during the 49ers' Week 4 loss against the Seattle Seahawks. The tight end is still bothered by the injury that kept him out of or limited him during the practices leading to the team's last game.
"The main thing was last week, he was able to go [that Friday], and today he didn't feel like he could," Shanahan told reporters on Friday. "So, we have up until Sunday to decide, but that's why it's doubtful this week, whereas it was questionable last week."
It looks like the 49ers have opted to allow Kittle more time to get healthy for the games down the stretch rather than risk that availability.
"Of course, our doctors are very skilled, and you can go get more opinions to make sure that we aren't putting him at further risk by putting him out there," general manager John Lynch said this past week. "We'll never do that. ... Everything's focused on this Sunday, and George is working his tail off to be there. If not, it's nice that we do have a bye [after Sunday], and we're hopeful that time can allow him to heal enough to really lick this thing and put it behind us so he can get back in there at practice."