George Kittle, along with many of his San Francisco 49ers teammates, will participate in his first playoff game on Saturday. The All-Pro tight end's statistics may not have been the record-breaking numbers from a year ago, but that doesn't mean the third-year player hasn't gotten better.
"I mean, you get better with every game if you just attack it each and every single play," Kittle told reporters on Wednesday. "You get better, you figure things out. Whether it's how to sit somewhere in a zone, man coverage, how to beat it with certain leverages, techniques like that.
"Game by game, my game, I think, has definitely gotten better. Every practice extra that I get, every game extra I get this post-season just helps me try to become a better player."
While it may be the first playoff appearance for Kittle, the tight end isn't straying too far from his regular routine.
"It feels like another week," Kittle said. "If you lose, you're done, which is a weird feeling. We haven't had that one yet. I think the whole team has done a really good job of handling their business this week. We had two really good practices last week in the bye week. We've had good practices this whole week.
"Everyone is on top of their stuff. Everyone has been in their books. We're just excited to play football on Saturday."
Jimmy Garoppolo has a good amount of playoff experience from his time with the New England Patriots. He even owns two Super Bowl rings. This will, however, be the 49ers quarterback's first playoff start, which would typically be a lot of pressure.
Kittle didn't sound too concerned.
"I'm not really worried," he explained. "Jimmy has been doing it all year. Every primetime game, he shows up, plays well. He's just going to do him and play really well. I just have that expectation of him. I have all the confidence in the world in him."
The 49ers will have one more full practice before Saturday's game against the Minnesota Vikings. The team will practice at 12:05 p.m. on Thursday and then hold a walk-through on Friday.
