49ers TE George Kittle (Achilles) aiming for early return in 2026

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San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles on Jan. 11, which, on a normal timeline, would put his return around the midseason point of the 2026 campaign. Kittle is planning on coming in ahead of schedule.

At the Niners’ locker room cleanout on Monday, Kittle told reporters he plans to return “well before November,” noting the tear was “best-case scenario.”

“Surgery went really, really good,” Kittle said, via ESPN. “[Dr. Neal ElAttrache] said best-case scenario when you tear an Achilles is that you tear it up high by your soleus, which is what I did. I had a clean tear. They didn’t have to drill into my heel. And where the repair was there’s more blood flow. And so it takes some time off of the recovery time… It’s not as bad as other ones.”

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Kittle suffered the Achilles tear in the Niners’ wild-card win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The star said he knew immediately he’d popped the Achilles.

“I knew exactly when it happened, it felt like someone put a shotgun up against my calf and pulled the trigger,” Kittle said. “The second it happened, I knew exactly what it was. … Unfortunate, but football’s tough sometimes.”

The 49ers will have several injuries to track this offseason, from Kittle to Fred Warner‘s rehab from a broken right ankle, to Nick Bosa (ACL), to Brock Purdy‘s big right toe. Then there are the questions about the resolution of Brandon Aiyuk‘s future, whether or not the Niners trade Mac Jones to a QB-needy squad, and the free-agent futures for the likes of key playmakers like Jauan Jennings.

Given the year of injuries the Niners experienced yet again, the prospect of getting Kittle back during the early portion of the 2026 season would be a godsend for Kyle Shanahan, as San Francisco looks to return to the postseason for the sixth time in eight seasons.

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