Featured Columnist IVJune 19, 2024
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George Kittle had plenty of injuries to rehabilitate this offseason, including a torn MCL on his toe, an issue with his shoulder, a fractured rib and a core muscle tear requiring offseason surgery.
And those recoveries led to him losing around 30 pounds since he couldn’t work out.
“I couldn’t lift,” Kittle said during a Tuesday appearance on Bussin’ with the Boys (1:00:30 mark). “I couldn’t do any upper body because of my shoulder and my rib, and I couldn’t do lower [body] because of my core surgery. … I didn’t lift from the Super Bowl until like almost mid-March. I went a month without doing anything. I wasn’t supposed to do anything.”
Kittle, 30, was yet again a key factor in the San Francisco 49ers reaching the Super Bowl this past season, registering 65 catches for 1,020 yards and six touchdowns while also serving as an elite blocker in the team’s loaded offense. He earned his fifth Pro Bowl nod for those efforts and his second first-team All-Pro selection.
Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus graded him as the 22nd-best player in the NFL this past season, noting that where he “separates himself from other elite receivers at the tight end position is in blocking. Kittle is a throwback to a time when tight ends were all-around threats who got dirty in the trenches and caught passes. His 87.7 PFF overall grade in 2023 was by far the best at the position.”
For the second time in the past five seasons, however, his Niners came up short in the Big Game, extending a title drought that dates back to the 1994 season. It’s a drought he’d surely love to end, and he’ll be in a better state to do so after an offseason of recovery.
