San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles tendon during the team's wild card round playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles. That was on Jan. 11, 2026. Almost exactly eight months later, Kittle is back. He's off the injury report for the 49ers' season-opening game against the division rival Los Angeles Rams, and he will play on Thursday night. Defensive end Nick Bosa, who has been recovering from a torn ACL, is also off the injury report and will play in Week 1.
Kittle started training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, then spent about a month ramping up before he officially returned to camp. He was limited in practices throughout the week the 49ers spent in Australia leading up to this game, but he had said earlier this week that he had taken a step toward playing. Now, he will.
It's an extremely welcome development for the 49ers, who dealt with various injury issues both last year and throughout this offseason. Not only did Kittle get hurt during the playoffs, but stars Fred Warner andNick Bosa didn't play in the postseason at all after suffering early-season injuries that ended their respective years. Those were major contributing factors in their blowout loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round.
Bosa, like Kittle, is off the injury report for Week 1 and will play against the Rams in Australia. He's coming off the second torn ACL of his career. Warner almost made it back for the playoffs last year and has been healthy throughout the offseason.
This summer, the 49ers lost wide receiver Ricky Pearsall for the season due to a lingering knee injury. They also saw both Christian McCaffrey and Mike Evans miss copious practice time with various ailments (they are both healthy and good to go for Week 1), so they have rarely — if ever — been at full strength in the lead-up to the season opener. Getting Kittle back in the fold is another step in the right direction.
Kittle is heading into his age-33 season. He racked up 57 catches for 628 yards and seven touchdowns in just 11 games last year. He's long been one of the most explosive tight ends in the league in the receiving game, as well as the league's best blocker at that position. It remains to be seen how his power and explosiveness will hold up through this injury, but the fact that he's able to return so soon is an encouraging sign of his progress.
