Iowa Alum Kittle ‘For Sure’ Will Play at Green Bay this Week

As the San Francisco 49ers wait and watch to see how many of their key injured players will be available Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, tight end George Kittle is leaving no room for debate.

"I will be playing on Sunday," Kittle said Wednesday afternoon. "Very excited. Can't pass up playing the Packers, so no, I will be out there for sure."

Kittle participated in Wednesday's practice on a limited basis after a hamstring injury kept him out of last week's loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Kittle reported hamstring "irritation" in the days after the Niners' Nov. 10 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Though Kittle didn't practice last Wednesday, he was a limited participant on Thursday and Friday, which seemed to position him to play against the Seahawks. He said Wednesday that for most of last week the hamstring seemed to be improving, but it wasn't where he wanted it to be when the weekend arrived.

"Saturday was a tough day," Kittle said. "I thought I felt pretty good on Friday. Saturday didn't feel great and then Sunday was just not in a good enough place to be like, ah, let's go out there and push it. I don't think I would've been my best self anyway."

Kittle was inactive and sorely missed against the Seahawks as the Niners struggled to a season-low output in yards from scrimmage (277) and tied for a season low in points (17). In the eight games he has played this season, Kittle has been the team's most productive pass catcher with 43 receptions for 560 yards and seven touchdowns.

This is the first hamstring injury Kittle has dealt with since he was a rookie, but if he does indeed return Sunday, it won't be the first time he has come back from an injury against the Packers. In 2019, Kittle returned from ankle and knee injuries to post six catches for 129 yards and a touchdown in a win against Green Bay.

Kittle has regularly played through injury during his career, but he and the Niners decided it wasn't worth the risk to possibly injure the hamstring further by trying to play against Seattle.

"They're just really finicky and it's one of those things that you can just be running a random route and all of a sudden you pull it even more and then it's four to six weeks and then I'm on probably season-ending IR," Kittle said. "It was just something we wanted to make sure I had full confidence in and I did not have full confidence in it."

Though Kittle is full of confidence that a return to the field is imminent, the Niners have a handful of other important players who bear monitoring this week. Quarterback Brock Purdy popped up on the injury report Monday because of soreness in his right (throwing) shoulder.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said Purdy would be day-to-day but said he didn't have much concern Purdy would be out Sunday "right now" as Purdy participated in Wednesday's practice.