SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Despite tearing his right Achilles and having it surgically repaired 19 weeks ago, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle believes he is on track to return for the Week 1 opener against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia.
Speaking to Bay Area media Wednesday, Kittle said that the Achilles is "doing great" and that he has had no setbacks, adding that it's realistic to think he could be back from such a devastating injury roughly eight months after suffering it.
"When I had the surgery and [Dr. Neal] ElAttrache told me, he said, 'Hey, I think if you do everything the right way, you have a chance,' it definitely ignites something and makes you push for it," Kittle said. "We're on track. We're ahead of schedule."
Though Kittle still has more hurdles to clear before resuming football activities, signs of his progress were evident during the Niners' OTAs Wednesday. Working on the side during the open session, Kittle was seen doing single leg hops and 20- to 30-yard jogs. He said it was the most he has run since the injury after resuming 100% body weight jogging a couple of weeks ago.
"There's just boxes you have to check before you're cleared to do something else," Kittle said. "And then once I'm actually allowed to go train the way I want to train, then it'll be just really fun to be able to go back to doing all the football movements I want to do: run blocking, pass pro, running routes, catching the ball. Then, it's just knock some of the rust off because I haven't done a lot since January and just get back out there."
One potential complication in Kittle's attempt to return for the start of the season is the plane ride to Australia. That game against the Rams is scheduled for Sept. 11 with the 49ers slated to take the long flight Sept. 2. That means less time to recover for Kittle and the Niners with the flight potentially having an adverse effect on his healing Achilles.
On Wednesday, Kittle said he wasn't too concerned with such things and didn't know how the flight might affect his efforts to return. Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said if anyone can pull it off, it might be Kittle.
"He is on track and very positive and happy every day like Kittle is," Shanahan said. "Kittle works his tail off, and he's extremely talented and gifted, so he'll do it as fast as you can."
Kittle suffered the injury in the first half of an NFC wild-card round win against the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 11. He immediately knew what the injury was and called for a cart, missing the following divisional round game against the Seattle Seahawks.
After the season, Kittle expressed disappointment in the injury but was optimistic that his recovery could be quicker than expected because of where the tear happened. According to Kittle, ElAttrache told him that the tear was relatively high up the Achilles near his soleus and that it was clean. That meant there was no need to drill into Kittle's heel, and it allowed for more blood flow where the repair happened, promoting faster healing.
Kittle told ESPN at the time that he would return "well before November." Even if he's unable to go in Week 1 or has some sort of setback, the Niners have three home games after the trip to Australia, which could provide solid options.
Though Niners defensive end Nick Bosa discussed how difficult his recoveries from serious knee injuries have been on him mentally, Kittle said he has had no such issues, noting this is his first "major" injury.
"Unfortunately, I missed one game and that sucks," Kittle said. "It was a playoff game, but when they tell me I have an opportunity to play Week 1, it's like, 'All right, well there's not half the season gone.' As long as I do what I'm supposed to do, work incredibly hard, maybe do some extra things that I'm allowed to do, hey, I'll make it work. And so, it's been a pretty easy mental process for me."
