George Kittle played through the 49ers’ big Week 5 win in Seattle while sick, and he says he may have dropped about 10 pounds because of it, as first reported by ClutchPoints.
Kittle told reporters this week he wasn’t sure if it was the flu, but the illness hit before the game at Lumen Field and hung around after it. He described himself as “terrible, like a shell of myself,” and then dropped the line every grown man with a job can relate to: “when you have enough caffeine in you, you can definitely play football.” Asked if he had put the weight back on, he said he was nearly there.
The IAHHM Take
This is the side of football fans don’t see on the broadcast. Kittle’s stat line in Seattle was quiet by his standards: five catches on six targets for 24 yards. But he was still out there blocking and being a factor in a 32-29 win over the defending Super Bowl champs. Before that game, he had 16 catches for 244 yards and four touchdowns in four weeks, so the production has been there all season.
The bigger story is the 49ers. They are 5-0, and Seattle dropped to 3-2 with the loss. San Francisco is winning close games on the road with key guys not at full strength, and that is usually what good teams look like in October.
Next up is a home Monday Night Football game against the Washington Commanders on Oct. 19. A fully fueled Kittle in prime time is bad news for any defense. Seattle hasn’t gotten any easier to watch since, either. The Seahawks fell to Denver on Thursday night.
Is San Francisco the best team in the NFC right now, or is 5-0 hiding some cracks?
Source: ClutchPoints
