No matter how confident his coach was earlier in the week, George Kittle will not play against the New York Jets.
Kittle (knee) has been ruled out of Sunday's meeting with the Jets, according to the official injury report.
The tight end suffered a knee injury in the first half of San Francisco's Week 1 loss to Arizona. Despite not practicing all week, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday he "fully” expected Kittle to play Sunday. Friday's injury report ended those hopes.
After signing a five-year, $75 million extension Aug. 13, Kittle caught four passes for 44 yards and wasn't much of a factor in the 49ers' season opener, especially after hyperextending his knee. No injury is ever timely, but Kittle's absence will come at a bad time with San Francisco's receiving corps so ravaged the 49ers had to sign Mohamed Sanu this week.
Shanahan admitted Friday Kittle never had much of a chance of suiting up this weekend, telling reporters "if it was a normal person, we probably would have ruled him out earlier in the week." That's gamesmanship at its finest, but Shanahan will need another trick up his sleeve to replace Kittle's production Sunday.
Fortunately for San Francisco, rookie Brandon Aiyuk (hamstring) was a full participant in practice Thursday and Friday and is expected to make his debut. We'll see how Shanahan implements the new kid while going without his star tight end.
