Tight end George Kittle and cornerback Charvarius Ward reported to the San Francisco 49ers training camp completely healthy after undergoing offseason core muscle surgeries. Neither participated in the team's offseason program as they recovered from their procedures.
For Kittle, recovery included regaining about 30 pounds to return to his playing weight, an aspect he discussed earlier in the offseason. The tight end elaborated on the weight gain today.
"I usually play the whole season around 242 to 245, and I got back up to 243 this past week, so I was excited about that," Kittle told reporters. "So weights all back."
Kittle's inability to follow his typical training regimen earlier in the offseason resulted in drastic weight loss. However, once cleared to work out at his usual pace, he managed to regain the lost weight.
Kittle wasn't just dealing with recovery from surgery this offseason. He also suffered an AC sprain and a chipped bone in his shoulder during the 49ers' Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, further limiting his early offseason activities.
"If I'm not working out, I lose weight pretty fast," Kittle shared. "Because I had the AC thing with my shoulder from the Super Bowl and then from the surgery, I couldn't really do any type of lifting, so I didn't really do a lot for several weeks. And so I lost a lot of weight.
"But after I got back in the gym and I was able to start it back up, I got back up to 230 decently, and then I gained like 10 pounds these last four to six weeks. So feeling pretty good about it."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked if Kittle, Ward, or center Jake Brendel (another recovering Niner) would have any restrictions heading into training camp.
"We'll be smart with them, but they're all 100 percent healed and stuff," Shanahan told reporters. "You just gotta be careful how you get them back in. But they'll have some days off and stuff like that. But they're all good to go."
