49ers TE George Kittle revealed recently that the location of his Achilles injury could have him back on the field sooner than expected. He had a clean tear higher up on the Achilles. "They didn't have to drill into my heel," Kittle explained. "And where the repair was is where there's more blood flow. And so, it takes some time off the recovery time."
Here's Dr. Daniel Kaplan, an orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone Hospital, on Kittle's injury and outlook: "An Achilles tendon is sort of like a rope. It connects your big calf muscle to the bone in the back of your foot. So that injury can occur anywhere along that rope. ... If the tear is a little closer to the bone, you can put sutures through one end of the rope and then put them into something called an anchor, which is like a little device that holds the rope in the bone. ... That's a little bit stronger because those anchors give you a much stronger point of fixation. Even though it's rarer, it's actually more helpful if the tendon is torn off closer to the bone as split in the middle."
After speaking with Kaplan, ESPN's Nick Wagoner believes Kittle could get back on the field "sometime around September."
"That doesn't mean he'd be back in Week 1 or even Week 2, but it's reasonable to think Week 5 or so would be on the long end of a return, barring any setbacks," Wagoner adds.
We'll continue to keep a close eye on Kittle's progress. Beyond the timetable for return, it's uncertain how effective Kittle will be coming off a significant injury, especially considering he turns 33 in October.
We're still approaching Kittle cautiously in early best-ball drafts. But he's reasonably with an ADP in Round 11 as the 11th TE off the board.
You have our personal money-back guarantee: If you’re not happy with our service for any reason, just reach out by December 31, 2026, and we’ll give you 100% of your subscription money back. No strings attached. You can cancel with one-click from your account page anytime.
Search
Redraft
Dynasty
Best Ball
