George Kittle on His Achilles Return, the Rams, and Myles Garrett

George Kittle joined Rich in a virtual locker room dressed like a NASCAR, sponsors plastered everywhere, and immediately leaned into the bit. "These are just my new teammates on the Niners," he said, introducing a new receiver named Dude Wipes ("he's a tight end, actually") and a left tackle named Novartis. The whole thing was a setup for Tight End University, the offseason event Kittle now runs, but the conversation kept finding its way back to the stuff that matters for San Francisco's season.

Start with the injury, because that is what everyone wants to know. Kittle is coming back from a torn Achilles, and by his account the comeback is ahead of schedule. He has been doing single leg box jumps up to a 20 or 24 inch box. He put cleats on last week and got back on the field, jogging and doing some easy cutting. "We're making a ton of progress," he told Rich, and both his head PT at the clinic in LA that did the surgery and the 49ers training staff are happy with where he is.

The target is clear. "I have a goal to be out there week one with the boys, and I'm going to do everything in my power to do it," Kittle said. He framed it honestly: if he is cleared and it is smart to play, he plays. He even skipped the American Century Championship golf tournament this year over it, calling four days of golf instead of rehab "a tough look" if he then could not suit up for the opener. He is staying in Nashville, rehabbing five or six days a week.

Then Rich tried to ruin his mood with the news that the Rams traded for Myles Garrett. "The whole thing's toast. It's finished," Kittle deadpanned, before getting serious about a problem that is now permanently on his schedule. Kittle knows the drill, because he lived it for years with Aaron Donald. He described coaching staffs losing sleep designing plays to keep four hands on a dominant defender at all times, because leaving Garrett one-on-one is asking to get strip-sacked.

"Myles is a fantastic player. He's a defensive MVP for a reason, broke a sack record for a reason," Kittle said. He expects Garrett to get "the Aaron Donald treatment" from the rest of the NFC: game plan around him, make the rest of the team beat you. His verdict was a competitor's, not a worrier's. "We got incredible players too. And I love a great challenge."

On the 49ers themselves, Kittle was loose but revealing. Asked about a Kyle Juszczyk story that he wanted to "smudge" the new Santa Clara locker room because Seattle won a championship in it, Kittle offered the optimist's read instead: "The last team to play here did win a Super Bowl in here, so there's probably a lot of good luck in here too." He copped to burning sage in 2024 during a four-game losing streak, which preceded a win, even if San Francisco still missed the playoffs.

He also went out of his way to praise Sam Darnold, calling him "my day walker brother" and "such a Sam Darnold fan," noting Darnold even invited him to the wedding. Juszczyk, meanwhile, is coming to Tight End University to teach a class on fullback play, tired of what Kittle called "subpar tight end fullback play" around the league.

The bit never really stopped, all the way down to a debate over whether a transfusion is better with tequila or vodka. But underneath it, the message landed: Kittle is close, he is motivated, and he is already thinking about how to handle Garrett twice a year.