The San Francisco 49ers have logged back-to-back wins in Weeks 4 and 5, and there's no denying that the return of star tight end George Kittle has played a major role in the Niners' recent surge. Kittle missed his team's first two games of the season due to a groin injury, but it's clear that he's now working his way back to top form again.
For his part, Kittle himself has already declared himself fully healthy — or at least very close to it. His recent statement about his current status should fire up San Francisco fans everywhere (via David Bonilla of the 49ers Webzone):
“I'll tell you, these last 10 days, I've definitely felt like myself,” Kittle said on Wednesday. “Battling back from a little groin stuff, that's never really fun, and just got to get back into that. But I definitely, this last week, I felt at my best playing. Nothing new came up from that, so I get to continue that streak and just keep going.”
The three-time Pro Bowler had his best game of the campaign in Week 5 as he helped the 49ers blow out the Carolina Panthers, 37-15. Kittle caught 5-of-6 targets for a season-best 47 yards.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan is also confident that Kittle will be able to get back to his very best sooner rather than later. The All-Pro TE just needs to get more reps in:
“The more Kittle is out there and healthy, the more he practices, the more he can get back in the routine, I think that stuff will take care of itself,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers get the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6, which will present another opportunity for Kittle to build on his strong performance against the Panthers. Nevertheless, it is clear that Kittle and Co. are not taking anything for granted:
“I think our offense is definitely clicking a little bit, and I think we have an opportunity to go out there and do the same thing again,” Kittle said. “I think this team that we're playing is very well-coached, just looking at them on tape. They've got some really physical players on defense. They set the edges really well. It's the same structure as kind of what the Rams do, so it's a defense that we see a ton. We've seen it like the last couple of weeks.
“Hopefully, [we'll do] similar things that work, but definitely have to change it up because they definitely have seen our game plans and what has worked. So we'll see what we come up with, and just looking forward to going out there and just playing football again.”
San Francisco is currently 3-2 and is sitting atop the NFC West.
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