49ers tight end George Kittle didn’t play last week and he hasn’t practiced this week, so it wouldn’t seem like there’s much chance that he’ll be in the lineup against the Seahawks this weekend.
The team isn’t ready to make any definitive call at this point, however. General Manager John Lynch was on KNBR Friday and said that Kittle is “getting better” as he works his way back from a groin strain.
Lynch cited Kittle’s importance to the offense and said the team will likely take as much time as possible before making any final call on his availability.
“We’re going to hold out hope that George is ready,” Lynch said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “We’ll see if we get him out here today. I think that’s critical. And if that doesn’t happen, it’s probably not looking good. But George is a type of player that you even wait until Sunday. I did that many times in my career, where you don’t practice all week, you find a way to go test it before the game. So I think it’s going to go right down to the wire. He is improving, though, and we just want to make sure we have a healthy Kittle for the entirety of the season moving forward.”
While it is a divisional game and the 49ers are trying to avoid an 0-2 start, it’s hard to imagine Kittle will play if he doesn’t do something at practice on Friday.