George Kittle says he feels fantastic after leaving Week 1 briefly with leg injury

George Kittle told reporters he feels “fantastic” after suffering lower leg injury vs. Cardinals.

A high screen pass from 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to tight end George Kittle nearly ended in disaster for the 49ers on Sunday. Kittle leaped and Cardinals safety Budda Baker flew in to hit Kittle low. As the 49ers tight end came down, his knee bent awkwardly and he immediately reached to his knee before getting up and jogging gingerly off the field.

Trainers worked with Kittle on his knee and he exited for the final few minutes of the first half. He came back for the second half and played, but he was unproductive. Head coach Kyle Shanahan after the game indicated it was a lower leg injury for Kittle.

Kittle earned zero targets in the second half, although Garoppolo indicated to reporters in his post-game video conference that he didn’t see anything different with the tight end and his lack of production was due to a defensive adjustment by Arizona.

After the game Kittle told reporters he felt “fantastic” after his injury, but the 49ers won’t have an update on the ailment until Monday. It’s worth noting Kittle went down early in the 49ers’ Week 9 game vs. the Cardinals, played the rest of the game, and missed the next two. So while Kittle says he feels fantastic, it doesn’t necessarily mean San Francisco is out of the woods. He’s their best offensive player and one of the few players they simply can’t miss for multiple weeks.

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