San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is getting better, but it seems he's not quite there yet. He suffered a groin strain on September 5 and hasn't practiced since, missing the team's Week 1 matchup against the Chicago Bears.
San Francisco will hold one more practice, a session this afternoon, before this weekend's matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
This morning, Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network reported that Kittle isn't expected to play against Seattle, per "league sources not authorized to speak publicly." However, the 49ers are still holding out hope that their All-Pro tight end will be on the field with his teammates for the home opener at Levi's Stadium.
"He's getting better; George is, and he's working really diligently to do so," general manager John Lynch told KNBR's Brian Murph and Kerry Crowley this morning. "I said last week, and this wasn't playing games, it's just the truth—with a player like George, you wait right up to game time, and you rely on your medical team, your health and performance team.
"This is a long season, but every game takes on great [importance], especially the division ones. So we're going to hold out hope that George is ready. We'll see if we get him out here today. I think that's critical. And if that doesn't happen, it's probably not looking good. But George is a type of player that you even wait until Sunday.
"I did that many times in my career, where you don't practice all week, you find a way to go test it before the game. So I think it's going to go right down to the wire. He is improving, though, and we just want to make sure we have a healthy Kittle for the entirety of the season moving forward."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.