After beginning the summer with a slew of injuries, Sunday provided good news on the injury front for the San Francisco 49ers.
Star tight end George Kittle was taken off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as he made the next step in his Achilles recovery. Running back Christian McCaffrey, meanwhile, was also back at 49ers practice on Wednesday after being sidelined for nearly two weeks due to “tightness.”
Kittle’s and McCaffrey’s returns to practice provide optimism that they’ll be available for the start of the regular season. The Niners are scheduled to leave for Australia on Sept. 2 before taking on the Los Angeles Rams a week later.
“It definitely just gives us energy,” 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak told reporters on Sunday. “It just changes things. You have two Hall of Fame-caliber players out there who are back out there and getting their work in, and they practice at a high standard, and they lift everybody up.
“It’s good to see them back out there.”
Kittle ruptured his Achilles on Jan. 11 in a playoff win against the Philadelphia Eagles and has made an impressive recovery to get back on the field in less than eight months. He expressed optimism this past week that he would be ready for the start of the regular season and reportedly had an encouraging checkup on his Achilles on Wednesday.
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Kittle is a two-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler who is a key part of San Francisco’s offense as a passing threat and a blocker in the run game. He had 57 catches for 628 yards receiving and seven touchdowns last season.
As for McCaffrey, his absence from practice led to speculation that he was holding out due to the recent pricey extensions for other star running backs. However, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was adamant that McCaffrey was being held out of practice due to injury. McCaffrey also shut down those rumors on Sunday, saying his time away from the practice field was also partially planned as load management.
“Obviously, when you don’t practice, the way the media works now it’s a firestorm,” McCaffrey told reporters. “But this was kind of part of the plan from the jump was to ramp up pretty big, get nine, 10 practices in, kind of come back down and then ramp back up so we’re fresh for the duration. Our staff’s done a great job of coming up with specific plans. And again, I feel great. I feel fresh, and it’s good to be back out there.”
After being limited to four games because of injuries in 2024, McCaffrey was an ironman last season. He played 1,010 offensive snaps in the regular season and playoffs — just the ninth running back in the past 20 seasons to top the 1,000 mark — and became the second player in the past decade with at least 450 combined carries and catches.
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The 30-year-old McCaffrey hasn’t responded well in the past following his heaviest-use seasons. The previous two times he topped 400 touches — in 2019 with Carolina and 2023 with the 49ers — he was severely hampered by injuries the following season, missing 13 games each in 2020 and 2024.
Star defensive end Nick Bosa remains out of practice with soreness and tendinitis in his surgically repaired right knee. Bosa tore his right ACL in Week 3 last season. He started camp on the active roster but has only participated in individual drills before being shut down nearly three weeks ago. The Niners have expressed optimism that he will be ready for Week 1.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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