George Kittle appears to have avoided a serious ankle injury.
The 49ers’ star tight end suffered a “mid-to-low” ankle sprain in San Francisco’s 48-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Tuesday afternoon, citing a source.
49ers tight end George Kittle is dealing with a “mid-to-low ankle sprain,” per source. Kittle said after the game he believed he avoided a high ankle and that is the case.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) December 23, 2025
Kittle told reporters after the game that he suffered the injury on a potential hip-drop tackle in the second quarter before eventually leaving the game for good in the third quarter, and that he did not believe it was a high ankle sprain.
“My concern level, I don’t think it’s a high ankle sprain,” Kittle said. “So, you know, we’ll take it one day at a time and we’ll go from there. …
“It happened second quarter, I don’t know. Whatever. I don’t know. We had a drive. Feel like I got hip dropped. Ankle got stuck in the grass or the turf, the cork turf. Weirdly weird field. Tried to tape it up, went in the third quarter, then it just got worse from there. And if I can’t run very fast or plant, then I think it’s a better [option] for my other tight ends to go in there, make plays.”
It’s unclear if the injury will sideline Kittle for San Francisco’s prime-time matchup with the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, but given the 49ers must win out in order to secure the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if Kittle played through the injury for such a big game.
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