Should George Kittle Play Again This Season?

What should the 49ers do?

Grant Cohn | Dec 15, 2020

Here's what you need to know.

George Kittle broke his foot eight weeks ago. It's supposed to be an-eight week injury. He's going to practice this week. He probably won't play this week, but he's fighting to get back on the field, probably because he's a captain, he's the leader of the offense and they pay him lots of money. And he takes pride in his play.

What should the 49ers do?

The idea that Kittle is practicing and would like to play is a real testament to what a great guy he is and a great teammate and a great competitor. And even though he's rich, he still wants to come back and play games that may not matter. Admirable.

Having written that, the 49ers should not let Kittle near the field again this season, because he's an indispensable player. And funny things happen in football, even in preseason games. People get really hurt.

The 49ers should tell him, "No, you cannot play again this season."

He's honorable to want to come back. The 49ers need to take a long view right now. They're not taking the view of three more games. That's silly. This is a very big organization worth a lot of money. They need to take the long view. And in the long view, Kittle needs to be ready for next season. For now, Kittle can go around the locker room and cheer up the healthy players.

It's Kittle's job to want to play this season. It's the team's job not to let him.

Do the right thing, 49ers.

Published Dec 15, 2020

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.