49ers tight end George Kittle returned to practice this week. He was limited on Wednesday and Thursday as he works his way back from a hamstring injury.
Kittle, though, expects to play in Sunday Night Football against the Falcons.
“I fully plan on playing on Sunday,” Kittle said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “As long as [coach] Kyle [Shanahan] lets me. It’s up to him. But hopefully I’m out there. Which I think I will be.”
Kittle injured his right hamstring in the second quarter of the Sept. 7 season opener. On Thursday, he talked publicly for the first time since his injury.
He said he fully tore the hamstring.
“I just felt like a rubber band snapped in my hamstring,” Kittle said. “I was like, ‘Ah, I’ve just got to go to the locker room after that one.’”
The muscle did not completely tear away from the bone, which is what happened to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s hamstring last season. That more severe injury has a prognosis of 3-6 months.
He missed “only” five games, the second-most games he has missed in a season behind only the eight games he sat out with foot and knee injuries in 2020.
“I have been so very excited to play football since last season ended, and being only able to play 20-something snaps has been very difficult for me,” Kittle said. “I’ve been trying my best to get back as fast as I can without being an idiot and rushing it.”