49ers TE George Kittle will trade lack of catches, stats for wins

San Francisco 49ers All-Pro tight end George Kittle missed the opening two games of the 2022 NFL regular season due to a groin injury and hasn't looked quite like the same dominant force even though old friend Jimmy Garoppolo is once again serving as his starting quarterback after Trey Lance suffered a broken right ankle in Week 2.

Thus far, Kittle has recorded a paltry six catches for 52 yards and no touchdowns on the campaign, and the 28-year-old tallied just two grabs for 24 yards in the recent "Monday Night Football" victory over the rival Los Angeles Rams. Per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone, Kittle was asked Friday about his lack of receptions as he and the 2-2 Niners prepare to play at the 1-3 Carolina Panthers Sunday. 

"It's football," Kittle responded. "There's great games. There's bad games. Sometimes defenses have really good game plans, and I'm double-covered the entire time. Other times, you play the Rams, and you've got to have six guys on the line of scrimmage to account for 99 (Rams superstar defensive tackle Aaron Donald), who is one of the best players in the game. It just is what it is." 

Kittle insisted leaving a football field as a victor means more to him than his personal stat lines from any one contest. 

"I would love to have 100 yards receiving and a touchdown every single game," he continued during his comments. "As long as I'm impacting the game in a positive way, as long as we're winning games, I don't really care." 

For what it's worth, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted earlier this week he wants to get Kittle the ball more but only if doing so makes sense depending on what's happening during a matchup.