George Kittle believes 49ers have ‘right guys’ as NFL trade deadline looms originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
George Kittle believes the 49ers still have what it takes to win during the 2025 NFL season.
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After San Francisco’s 26-15 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday in Week 8, the All-Pro tight end explained to reporters at NRG Stadium why he personally won’t be advocating for his team to make a deal ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline, despite its bumps, bruises and 5-3 record.
“I mean, would you have asked me that last week, when we held the Atlanta Falcons to 10 points? I don’t think so,” Kittle said. “I think we have the right guys. Now, I mean, let’s think about who else got hurt today on our defensive line. Like, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. But I think we got a lot of the right guys in the building, a lot of guys who love to play football the right way.”
“I think [49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh] gets our young guys playing the right way. And the more reps that the young guys get, the better that they’re going to get. I don’t ever worry about a trade deadline … Like, there’s nothing I can do. I’m not going to go into Kyle’s office and be like, ‘Hey, we need to trade for somebody.’”
The 49ers have been the most-injured team during coach Kyle Shanahan’s nine-year tenure. And Sunday’s loss rubbed salt in the wound, as San Francisco saw key defenders Dee Winters, Jordan Elliott and Sam Okuayinonu exit the game with injuries.
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Yet Kittle, who has played his entire nine-year career with San Francisco, still has faith in his teammates — particularly the youngsters on defense, as he alluded to.
But he also was honest about a glaring area that must improve.
“I just want to get back out there and play more football, because that was a horrible first half,” Kittle said. “It was a really bad performance by our offense — and I think we completely left our young defense out to dry today. I felt like they played very well. … The whole day, they played bend-but-don’t-break; they gave up two touchdowns and four field goals.
“Like, our offense has to score points. I’ve said that since the start. We have a veteran offense that needs to score. And yes, we’re missing some key guys obviously, but we have to score points. And we did not score points today. We didn’t help our defense out at all, the entire day.”
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Kittle isn’t giving up on his team or the season one bit, even with Nick Bosa and Fred Warner being out for the rest of the campaign with devastating injuries. However, the 49ers’ fan favorite knows that a 15-point performance like Sunday’s will be hard for any team to overcome or for a defense to support.
With that said, it’s clear that Kittle believes his team still has potential, even after the frustrating loss and abundance of injuries.
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