San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle needed only nine yards against the Washington Commanders to surpass the 1,000-receiving-yard mark for the third time in his career, having previously achieved this feat in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He reached that mark in the second quarter.
"My goal every year is 1,000 yards, 10 touchdowns," Kittle said this past week. "It's a goal I've set for myself since my second year. My tight ends coach made me do that, and I love having that mindset. Just something to strive for.
"Is it the most important thing? No. Winning is. But it's a fun little box you can check, and it definitely looks good. And if you can have 1,000 yards, it definitely means that you are contributing to the team in a good way."
With this accomplishment, Kittle becomes the second 49ers player to surpass 1,000 receiving yards this season, joining wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. They mark the first 49ers duo to achieve this since Terrell Owens and Jerry Rice in 1998.
"It's a cool statistic, yeah," Kittle shared. "And I don't sit and look at my Twitter stats 24/7. I'm not a big guy into that. But it is cool when you're on a team that has a lot of guys playing at a high level. It's hard to BS your way to 1,000 yards. You have to go out there and put a lot of good stuff on tape.
"And the fact that we have ... one guy's done it, me and [WR] Deebo [Samuel] are pretty close, [RB] Christian [McCaffrey] is leading the team in touchdowns, he has over 1,300 yards rushing. We have a lot of guys that are contributing at high levels."
Entering Sunday's game with a career-high 16 yards per reception, Kittle continues to be an impactful player for the team. Only Aiyuk has a higher average among his teammates, entering Week 17 at 18.5 yards per catch.
Kittle is on the verge of eclipsing his annual 1,000-yard goal, which is even more impressive in a loaded 49ers offense 👏 pic.twitter.com/Ce22zpl11e
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 28, 2023
