San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle didn't practice on Wednesday because of some soreness resulting from Sunday's win over the Cincinnati Bengals, but he was back on the practice field with his teammates on Thursday. That is undoubtedly comforting news for fans who might have been concerned for the well-being of the All-Pro player.
Kittle landed on injured reserve earlier this season with what the team reported to be a calf injury. General manager John Lynch joined KNBR this afternoon and discussed the injury—and recovery—that forced Kittle to miss three games.
Since returning from injured reserve on November 6, Kittle has been dominant. He has three games with over 100 receiving yards and two of those—the last two—with over 150 receiving yards since Week 9. It's been about as impressive a performance by an NFL tight end as anyone has seen.
#49ers TE George Kittle's 332 rec. yds. over the last 2 weeks (Weeks 13-14) are the most in the NFL among all players over that span.
h/t to 49ers Communications
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) December 16, 2021
"Two things," Lynch said on the Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks show. "I think, first of all, George, early in the year, he wasn't healthy. He was gutting it out, but he had tweaked that Achilles, and he just wasn't moving like George normally moves.
"We got him the time on IR to kind of say, 'Hey, let's put that to bed, to rest. We think we can knock it out if he has that time.' But then it took some weeks to get his legs back underneath. I think now we're just seeing a healthy George Kittle, and that's dangerous for the rest of the league because he's such a good football player."
Kittle doesn't have to do it alone, though. He has playmakers all around him, helping contribute to the 49ers' playoff push. Wide receivers Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Jauan Jennings are making plays too.
"I think it's a really good thing for us," Lynch continued. "He's such a complete player. I just love watching him play the game. He brings such a great energy to us. And the greatest thing? He doesn't ever say 'Boo' when he's not getting 13 catches. He just goes about and dominates the run game, blocking people, and does it against defensive ends to boot. He's just an extraordinary player for us, and we're sure happy we have him."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.