San Francisco 49ers star tight end George Kittle was taken off the physically unable to perform list on Sunday, providing hope that he might be able to return from a ruptured right Achilles tendon before the season opener. The team received good news on the injury front 10 days before departing for Australia: both Kittle and All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey returned to practice.
The 49ers are scheduled to leave for Australia on Sept. 2, and Kittle said last week that he needed to practice in pads before then to determine whether he would make the trip and play in Week 1. He ruptured his Achilles on Jan. 11 in a playoff win at Philadelphia and has made an impressive recovery to get back on the field in less than eight months.
Kittle is a two-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler who is a key part of San Francisco's offense as a passing threat and a blocker in the run game. He had 57 catches for 628 yards receiving and seven touchdowns last season. McCaffrey had missed the past two weeks of practice with what the team described as "tightness." After being limited to four games because of injuries in 2024, McCaffrey was an ironman last season. He played 1,010 offensive snaps in the regular season and playoffs — just the ninth running back in the past 20 seasons to top the 1,000 mark — and became the second player in the past decade with at least 450 combined carries and catches.
The 30-year-old McCaffrey hasn't responded well in the past following his heaviest-use seasons. The previous two times he topped 400 touches — in 2019 with Carolina and 2023 with the 49ers — he was severely hampered by injuries the following season, missing 13 games each in 2020 and 2024.
Star defensive end Nick Bosa remains out of practice with soreness and tendinitis in his surgically repaired right knee. Bosa tore his right ACL in Week 3 last season. He started camp on the active roster but has only participated in individual drills before being shut down nearly three weeks ago. The 49ers have expressed optimism that he will be ready for Week 1.