Head coach Kyle Shanahan says George Kittle is good to go for Week 3.

Kittle is immediately back in the top-3 tight end radar and is an immense boost to the 49ers in general.

George Kittle will be limited at 49ers practice today.

As the tweet went on to say, it's a good sign for his return at Denver on Sunday. Unfortunately, it's a Sunday night game so owners counting on Kittle will need a backup plan.

Now, head coach Kyle Shanahan is expressing optimism that George Kittle will return for Week 3 when the 49ers face the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football.

Hopefully the news will continue to trend in a positive direction for Kittle and his owners. The 49ers playing on Sunday night will be a challenge for owners who are counting on him in Week 3, though. Now is the time to get a backup plan in case he comes down to a game-time decision.

Things aren't looking good for George Kittle to return for the 49ers in Week 2, stemming from a groin injury suffered ahead of the team's opening game in Chicago.

Related Players: Ross Dwelley, Tyler Kroft

Unlike other situations around the league (the Raiders, for example) there is no plug-and-play option for the 49ers in regards to the tight end position. The team schemes plays for George Kittle himself, not necessarily the position. Trey Lance can run himself into fantasy relevance regardless, but his ceiling is lowered without one of the best play-making TEs in the league, if Kittle were to miss another week of action.

49ers TE George Kittle (groin) will not return to practice today, per Kyle Shanahan.

Related players: Tyler Kroft, Ross Dwelley

Kittle didn't play in Week 1 after being listed as questionable. However he didn't practice all last week and this week now isn't off to a good start. It was a sloppy Week 1 game but the Niners didn't get much out of their TE position as Kroft and Dwelley each had one catch.

49ers TE George Kittle (groin) is not expected to play Sunday against the Bears.

Kittle was listed as questionable for Week 1 but did not practice all week after suffering the injury on Monday. The 49ers are erring on the side of caution here with it only being Week 1. The 49ers are playing the long game here and playing it safe with Kittle. Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley and Tyler Kroft are the other tight ends on the San Francisco roster.

George Kittle has missed the last three days of practice due to a groin injury but was quoted as saying, “Feeling significantly better than where we were at Monday, even better than Wednesday, even better than Thursday. Taking great steps forward. Definitely doing everything I can to be on the field Sunday. I’ve had games in the past where I haven’t practiced all week and played. Hopefully, getting off the plane, I feel better tomorrow and Saturday, and then I have an actual opportunity to be out there and play.”

Related Players: Charlie Woerner

Judging by his comments, a betting person would likely put money down that Kittle plays on Sunday, but to what extent may be a question. In the first game of the season against the lowly Bears, the 49ers could be conservative with one of the, if not the, best all-around tight ends in the league. Charlie Woerner is listed as the TE2 on the depth chart, and the overall offensive explosiveness would take a hit if Kittle has to spend some or all of Sunday on the sideline.

49ers injury alert:
Tight end George Kittle has a groin issue and won't practice today.

Related players: Tyler Kroft, Ross Dwelley

The tweet quoted Shanahan as saying he, "Was hoping [Kittle would] be good today, did little Monday, we’ll have to see day by day." Owners will want to monitor this leading up to Sunday. Kroft and Dwelley are up next on the depth chart. The 9ers do have an early game at Chicago in Week 1 so owners will be able to adjust.

49ers passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik noted that Lance’s rapport with receiver Brandon Aiyuk, with whom he trained this offseason, is better now than it is with other 49ers’ targets like Deebo Samuel and George Kittle, per The Athletic article.

Related Players: Deebo Samuel, George Kittle

An unrelated note from Rohan Chakravarthi (@RohanChakrav) said that Trey Lance is mainly operating less than 10 yards down the field, so maybe a dink-and-dunk, run-centric offense is going to benefit Brandon Aiyuk. At this time last year, Aiyuk was coming off of fantasy draft boards much before Deebo Samuel, possibly a year too early.