San Francisco 49ers In Jeopardy of Losing George Kittle for Game Against Los Angeles Rams!

George Kittle and Charvarius Ward were both missing from Thursday’s practice session, which puts their status for Week 3 against the Rams in question.

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) mentally prepares before the start of the game against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images

49ers star tight end George Kittle was not in attendance for Thursday’s practice session.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Kittle is experiencing tightness in his hamstring. The 49ers are taking precautions to hold him out of practice, but his absence at this stage of the week puts his status for Week 3 against the Rams in question.

It’s to the point that Schefter is saying that Kittle will “likely” be out against the Rams. He wouldn’t have said that baselessly if his source from the 49ers didn’t inform him. I’d imagine that Kittle does not play against the Rams. Hamstrings are not to be trifled with.

If the 49ers were to play Kittle in Week 3, they run a massive risk of him worsening it. Instead of missing one game, he could end up missing multiple. That is something the 49ers have to avoid with Christian McCaffrey (Achilles) and Deebo Samuel (calf) out for a while.

Sitting Kittle against the Rams is the wisest move. The 49ers must take precautions with their injured star players as possible. That includes All-Pro cornerback Charvarius Ward. He was also not on hand for Thursday’s practice session for the 49ers.

Ward is dealing with a hamstring/knee issue, so it’s similar to Kittle, per Schefter. However, Ward wasn’t mentioned as a player that is “likely” to be out against the Rams by Schefter. Either Ward’s injury isn’t deemed much of a concern, or Schefter let it slip his mind.

Either way, the 49ers are stockpiling injuries at a rapid rate. This makes defeating the Rams much more difficult. And yet, it is still a game they should win without too much struggle. They still have plenty of talent to get it done on both sides of the ball.

Plus, the Rams are dealing with a plethora of injuries themselves. The playing field isn’t even since the 49ers are still more talented. The injured players on the Rams are also more pivotal to their success than the 49ers thanks to their overall talent.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan will speak on Friday to reveal the injury report against the Rams. That is when the statuses of Kittle and Ward will be set for that matchup along with the details of their injuries.