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Nick Wagoner
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On Sunday night, moments after playing an entire game without a catch for the first time in his eight-plus NFL seasons, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle was his usual, chipper self.
Kittle didn’t mind much that his 114-game run of catches, the second-longest streak by a tight end to start a career since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, had ended. Quite the opposite, in fact, after he played a prominent role in jump starting the Niners’ run game in a 20-10 victory against the Atlanta Falcons.
«I would love to get the football,» Kittle said. «I love catching the ball. I love hitting people and I love running in the open space. But like I said, if other guys are taking advantage of the opportunity and they’re winning their one-on-ones, I’ll take it. I want to win, and I want to just keep winning because that’s way more fun than having 100 yards and losing.»
Brock Purdy and wideout Ricky Pearsall return, too.
According to coach Kyle Shanahan, Purdy (right big toe) and Pearsall (right knee) will be monitored as the week goes on before deciding if either could return Sunday against the Houston Texans (1 p.m. ET, Fox).
There’s still no definitive timetable for receiver Brandon Aiyuk (right knee) to return to practice though Shanahan has indicated Week 10 could be a logical landing spot. Guard Ben Bartch (right ankle), guard Spencer Burford (knee) and wide receiver Jacob Cowing (hamstring) are also nearing a return.
All of which means the 49ers could be getting serious offensive reinforcements soon, though with this team there’s no such thing as fully healthy. (Example A: The offense will be without center Jake Brendel a «couple of weeks» due to a hamstring injury.)
Getting closer to full strength on offense is ideal considering the defense is working through the seasonlong absences of linebacker Fred Warner (dislocated and fractured right ankle) and end Nick Bosa (torn right ACL).
«We’re going to have to step up,» right tackle Colton McKivitz said. «On offense, is there a little more urgency to score? Yeah. Is there a little more urgency to run the ball better? Yeah, I mean, same thing in the pass game. It is just time for us to start hitting on all cylinders.»
Christian McCaffrey feasted. That script could flip at any time, and getting Aiyuk, Pearsall and others back will only expand those options.
«Everything changes [with those guys],» wideout Kendrick Bourne said. «Not to take away from anybody else, but George is one of one. … Can’t wait to have him and Ricky back to just help us, but he’s going to open up a lot of different windows for me, for CMC, for everybody else and it is going to be fun.»
Getting the big plays back in the mix is another priority for the 49ers, though there’s also a notable trend around the NFL where defenses are doing everything they can to take them away and force offenses to execute drives of a dozen or more plays without making a mistake.
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Since Shanahan arrived in 2017, the Niners have 999 explosive plays, the most in the NFL. But those plays have been harder to come by this season as defenses have focused on McCaffrey and dared a rotating cast of pass catchers to do damage down the field.
«It’s harder in general to get explosives in the league now, the way defenses play,» 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. «It’s not something you’ve got to overcorrect or anything. You think those will come your way if you keep playing the right way.»
None of that takes away from what tight ends Jake Tonges and Luke Farrell and receivers Bourne, Jauan Jennings and Demarcus Robinson have done to keep the offense afloat through the first part of the season. It’s just the reality of how defenses are approaching the Niners when they don’t have their full complement of stars. It’s also part of what has made McCaffrey’s performance so impressive. Every defense knows he’s getting the ball more often than not and he still leads the league in scrimmage yards (981).
So long as he’s healthy, the offense will remain McCaffrey-centric for the foreseeable future.
But it’s not hard to envision a day soon where defenses must pick their poison. In the meantime, the Niners don’t expect to be at full strength again this season. For they know better than most what is required of them in the absence of so many important players.
«There’s some teams that just get brutally hit with injuries, and at the end of the day, outside of your locker room, nobody really gives a s—,» Kittle said. «And regardless of who’s out there and who’s not out there, the Niners are going to try to play with the standard that we’ve set.»
