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San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle has hopes of returning “sooner than later” but according to head coach Kyle Shanahan, we might not be seeing Kittle or Jimmy Garoppolo until next season.
“Those guys are working their tails off right now,” Shanahan said, via Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee. “But they’re still part of the rehab, just trying to get back and be a part of this, but it’s not anytime soon right now.”
Both players suffered ankle injuries on November 1 in the Niner’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The 49ers Have Slim Chance At Playoffs
The 49ers lost again Monday night to the Bills 34-24, however, they’re surprisingly not out of the running for a playoff spot yet, it will just take a lot of effort to make it.
At 5-7, the reigning NFC champs will have to defeat the Washington Football Team, Cowboys, Cardinals, and Seahawks. If there’s no hope for an offseason, it seems like the 49ers wouldn’t try to bring back Kittle or Jimmy G.
Now, it’s up to backup Nick Mullens to carry the team. On Monday, Mullens finished the game having completed 26 of his 39 pass attempts for 316 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Following the loss, Shanahan acknowledged that Mullens needed to play better, well perfect actually.
“You could see there at the end he made some plays,” Shanahan said. “He can’t make those turnovers that he had, can’t have that false start that he had there at the inch-yard-line, but I thought he gave us a chance.
“With the way the whole team played all together, he did need to play better because I think we had to play perfect in a few areas, and by no means do I think he played perfect, but there’s still stuff to improve on, but there were some good and bad things he did today.”
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Mullens Will Need Consistency to Lead the 49ers to Playoffs
Mullens didn’t shy away from admitting his mistakes. In eight games so far, he has an equal number of interceptions as he does his nine touchdowns. He’s been inconsistent as his quarterback ratings range between 51.7 to 128.4.
“I definitely feel the same way as a coach does,” Mullens said via NBC Sports. “I feel like there was a lot of space in the field for us to attack. We had our opportunities to attack and we just didn’t execute as a group. I think the most important thing, people talk about big plays, but it’s big plays at the right times. And that’s one thing that I, and us as an offense, have to improve.
“Every game, every play in the game is the most important play. And you don’t know when those moments are going to come but to extend drives to flip the field, score touchdowns, every moment is key. And so, the execution level has to be higher.”
Will Jimmy G. far from his return, it’s up to Mullens to fix his mistake and stay consistent in order to carry the team to playoffs.
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