The season is over for the San Francisco 49ers, and it will be remembered as a season of the team fighting to the Divisonal round, despite multiple key players sufferering significant injuries. That trend, unfortunately, continued into the playoffs, with George Kittle tearing his Achilles in the Wild Card round. Because of how late the injury occurred, there is fear about the star tight end’s availability all of next season.
Kittle is already scoffing at the idea that he will miss most of the 2026 season. Speaking with the media during locker clean out day on Monday, the veteran 49er revealed that he experienced a “best-case scenario” in terms of Achilles tears, explaining that where the tear occurred, and how clean it was, was a positive sign in the nightmare.
Because of that, Kittle said he should be back “well before November,” but wouldn’t give a specific timeline.
"Surgery went really, really good. [Dr. Neal ElAttrache] said best-case scenario when you tear an Achilles is that you tear it up high by your soleus, which is what I did. I had a clean tear. They didn't have to drill into my heel. And where the repair was there's more blood flow. And so it takes some time off of the recovery time... It's not as bad as other ones."George Kittle
George Kittle eyes return early in 2026 season, after best-case scenario Achilles tear
Kittle’s injury occurred on Jan. 11, and he had surgery three days later on Jan. 14. A return in mid November would be 10 months, which would still be relatively fast, since Achilles injuries can be a year-long process.
However, the tight end is shooting to be back well before then, so that means either in September or October, the first two months of the season.
That would be only eight or nine months from the day of the injury, which would be a remarkable recovery. Considering who Kittle has been all throughout his career, that would be on brand.
The star tight end is tough and determined, and often finds way to color outside the lines. If he can take that mindset into his recovery, which he certainly will, and his body responds, the 49ers might not have to play many games without him in 2026.