San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan joined KNBR this morning. One of the week's biggest storylines has been George Kittle's sore calf and the potential availability (or unavailability) of the tight end for Sunday's divisional game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Kittle has not practiced this week. The team will hold one final session this afternoon. Usually, when a player does not practice, that means he is unlikely to play. That may not be the case for Kittle, though.
The 49ers coach was asked if Kittle would play against the Seahawks.
"I hope so," Shanahan responded on the Murph & Mac show. "I wish I could state it like that, but it's not guaranteed. We were hoping it would heal a little bit more and expected it to by yesterday. He went out to give it a go in walk-thru [yesterday], and it was just still bothering him, so we shut him down for the day.
"I haven't seen him yet today. Hopefully, he's coming in today, feeling better. He'll get a few reps out there today, and then we're hoping he'll be ready by Sunday.
"Even if he doesn't go today, George is a guy who's played long enough, who plays the game as hard as he possibly can, whether he practiced that week or not. So, George is a guy that if he doesn't practice, he's still going to have an option to play in that game.
"As long as it's not risking him, we'll give that decision all the way up to kickoff, if need be."
Shanahan also provided an update on running back Elijah Mitchell, who suffered a shoulder injury during Week 2. He has been limited during practices this week. Is he ready to go?
"Not yet," Shanahan answered. "He got the most work he's gotten here in two weeks yesterday. Just got a couple of runs. He's still hurting, still sore. We've still got him in a blue jersey, so no one can touch him, but we'll see how he does today. Each day of rest is helping his body heal. But that probably won't be a decision we make until tomorrow."
If Mitchell can't go, that could mean a healthy dose of the team's other rookie running back, Trey Sermon, carrying the football.
Lastly, Shanahan had an update on cornerback Josh Norman, who suffered a lung contusion against the Green Bay Packers.
"Right now, I'll see how it is when I talk to the doctors today, but I would pretty much think it's pretty doubtful," Shanahan said. "We're hoping he can get out there. He's trying to condition. Any time you get an injury like that when it's in your lungs area and stuff like that, when you do heal up, you've got to get your stamina back. You've got to get your breath back.
"Any time you mess with the lungs, it's a little bit scary for anybody, let alone an athlete, out there working hard and doing stuff like that. We'll be able to condition him the most today that we've been able to in the last five days, and if he responds real well, then I think he'll have a chance. So, hopefully, we have a good day today."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
