Kittle is dealing with a calf issue and has yet to practice this week
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan joined the Murph & Mac show on KNBR Friday morning to discuss a few injuries as well as the Jimmy Garoppolo/New England “drama.”
Shanahan said, “I hope so. It’s not guaranteed. We were hoping it would heal a little more.” Kyle didn’t sound too optimistic. Kittle is dealing with a calf issue that’s prevented him from practicing the past couple of days.
Again, players that don’t practice on Wednesday and Thursday generally don’t play on Sunday. But, again, George Kittle is one of the few outliers. So if Kittle can go, he’ll play. I imagine they’ll take this up to kickoff to see if they can get 85 on the field.
As far as the cornerbacks go, don’t expect Josh Norman to suit up Sunday. Here’s what Shanahan had to say: “I would pretty much say it’s pretty doubtful. Anytime you get an injury to your lungs or anything like that, you have to get your breath back. We’ll be able to condition him today. If he responds real well, he has a chance.”
Shanahan said, “We gotta have guys step up.” With K’Waun Williams also out, he hinted at Deommodore Lenoir playing in the slot and Dre Kirkpatrick starting on the outside. But, of course, this is all dependent on how quickly Buster Skrine gets up to speed.
Breaking in two new cornerbacks against an offense that has Russell Wilson, D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett doesn’t sound too appealing. San Francisco has to hope that Wilson doesn’t get rid of the ball as quickly as Aaron Rodgers did last week so the pass rush can get home.
Nick Bosa wasn’t happy with his performance against Green Bay. “Chipping’s an issue. Not just for Bosa but for everybody.” Shanahan said the team has to do a better job of moving Bosa around and putting him at different positions, but it also means other guys have to step up. Also, by chipping a player, that means the offense is keeping another receiver in, which causes the quarterback to hold the ball.”
Shanahan was arguing that offenses chipping Bosa has its benefits. Plus, Bosa better get used to that. When you win as quickly as he does, offenses are going to do everything they can to slow him down or take him out of the game.