George Kittle happy 49ers have specific problem

San Francisco 49ers star tight end George Kittle remains committed to sacrificing targets for the greater good. 

"If I have one catch a game, I know my fantasy football coach would be really mad at me for that, but it is what it is," Kittle recently said, per Briana McDonald of the 49ers' website. "As long as we're winning games and we're feeding the right guys the ball – I'm never going to get mad if (running back) Christian McCaffrey has 20 carries and 10 catches for 300 total yards, I'll never be upset about that because he's such a talented football player." 

Kittle generated headlines in October after he recorded just six receptions for 52 yards and no touchdowns across his first two games of the 2022 season and then said he didn't care about his personal stats as long as the 49ers were winning contests. 

According to ESPN, the four-time Pro Bowl selection ultimately finished the regular season second on the team with 60 catches and 765 receiving yards. He also led all San Francisco players with 11 touchdown grabs as part of an offense that featured McCaffrey, No. 1 wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and dual-threat offensive weapon Deebo Samuel, among others. 

Kittle praised head coach Kyle Shanahan for doing whatever possible to get the most out of San Francisco's numerous offensive talents. 

"It's really fun to be on a team that does have a problem of too many mouths to feed because coach Shanahan does such a great job of scheming everybody into getting certain plays and it's just really fun to be a part of an offense that has so much talent on it," Kittle explained. 

Kittle indicated earlier this month he'd be just fine with free-agency signing Sam Darnold and not 2021 first-round draft pick Trey Lance opening the upcoming season atop the depth chart at the quarterback position if Brock Purdy isn't ready to play in September following elbow surgery Purdy had in March. Whoever is under center for the Week 1 matchup at the Pittsburgh Steelers, logic suggests that signal-caller could rely on Kittle early and often.