By JOSH DUBOW
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle, who has been selected to the Pro Bowl, said doctors characterized his ruptured Achilles tendon as a “best case scenario,” giving him hope he can return without missing significant time next season.
Kittle injured his right Achilles tendon in a wild-card round win over Philadelphia on Jan. 11 and underwent surgery last week in Los Angeles. Kittle said Dr. Neal ElAttrache informed him that he had a “clean tear” near his soleus muscle, which is higher up on the Achilles tendon.
“They didn’t have to pierce my heel,” Kittle said Monday. “Where the repair was, there’s more blood flow, so it reduces the recovery time. So he’s very excited about everything. My recovery — when I’ll be running, when I’ll be ready to play again — he’s very excited about it. So that puts me in a very good mood. It’s not as bad as other cases.”
“I’ll keep it a surprise,” Kittle said when asked to comment on a timeline of his recovery. But a return in eight to nine months could put Kittle back on the field near the start of the 2026 season.
Kittle said he knew right away how serious the injury was, saying it “felt like someone put a shotgun against my calf and pulled the trigger.”
He told the Eagles coach, who was first on the field to check him out, that he needed a cart and was taken back to the locker room. Kittle was accompanied there by his family, as well as Niners owner Jed York, who got a bottle of tequila for his star.
“Getting their support was absolutely fantastic,” Kittle said. “The fact that the team owner comes down to give you his condolences and just stands there with you really shows what kind of place this is and the people that are in this building. And it makes me very happy to be a Niner.”
Kittle is a two-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl selection, being a key part of San Francisco’s offense as a passing threat and blocker in the run game. He had 57 receptions for 628 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
The Niners struggled offensively in his absence last week, losing 41-6 to Seattle in the divisional round.
Injury update
There were a few other injury updates on locker room cleanup day for San Francisco.
Standout linebacker Fred Warner said he was ready to return if the team advanced to the NFC title game, but will now slow down his rehab work with significantly more time to heal.
“I think my rehab had obviously accelerated to try to get to the NFC championship game,” Warner said. “Now, I can just slow things down and really work on all the little details that I couldn’t work on before all this happened. It’s just business as usual.”
Rookie defensive end Mykel Williams, who tore his ACL in Week Nine, said his rehab is going well and he hopes to be ready for the start of the season.
Quarterback Brock Purdy said he won’t need any special treatment for his turf toe injury that sidelined him for eight games this season.
“The finger is ready,” Purdy said. “Obviously, I’ll continue to strengthen him and give him some rest and stuff. But he’s okay.”
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