George Kittle had one of the best seasons of his NFL career in 2023, and the San Francisco 49ers tight end's All-Pro campaign was made all the more impressive on Wednesday when he disclosed further details about the core muscle injury that hindered him down the stretch.
Kittle posted his first 1,000-yard season since 2019 last year, finishing with 1,020 yards and six touchdowns and earning first-team All-Pro honors. He was Pro Football Focus' highest-graded tight end and was first for his position in run block grade.
Third among all pass-catchers (min. 50 targets) in Expected Points Added per target, per Sports Info Solutions, Kittle re-established himself as the premier all-round tight end in the NFL, and he did so despite dealing with a core muscle injury.
Kittle had offseason surgery to fix the issue and gave an update on his progress at a press conference on Wednesday: "Coming along, progressing as planned, goal is to be back ready for training camp and all signs point that I will be ready for training camp."
His extended break from time on the field may be welcome given how long he dealt with the injury last season.
Asked to specify how much of the season he spent playing through the problem, Kittle replied: "I’d say like Week 9-10, we took some MRIs of it and some stuff didn’t show up so we weren’t really entirely sure what we were dealing with until I got the surgery.
"So that was a tough one, we tried to figure it out but things weren’t popping up on the scans so just something we were playing through for like 10 weeks. It wasn’t the most fun, but still able to play at a high level."
Kittle undoubtedly did play at a high level. In Week 10, he had 116 receiving yards and a touchdown in a rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars. In Week 11, he went for 89 yards and a score in a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Only twice after the 49ers' Week 9 bye did Kittle have fewer than 50 receiving yards. On top of that, he produced a critical 81-yard effort in a Divisional round win over the Green Bay Packers, catching the 49ers' opening touchdown pass from Brock Purdy.
His injury issues caught up with him in Super Bowl 58 as he played 84 percent of the offensive snaps having played 97 percent across the 49ers' first two playoff games.
Kittle not being healthy contributed to the 49ers losing in overtime in the Super Bowl but, even though the season did not end in San Francisco achieving the ultimate goal, that should not take away from his incredible efforts in helping the Niners get back to the biggest stage while clearly far from 100 percent.
