There was much uncertainty about the availability of San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle coming into the season.
But he's worked his way back onto the field, and against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2, Kittle got his official welcome back to the gridiron.
Kittle helped the 49ers extend their lead at the 13:08 mark of the third quarter when he was found wide open in the end zone. Purdy launched a 12-yard strike to Kittle, who reeled in the catch for his first touchdown of the season.
San Francisco led 21-6 after the score.
Later in the game, Kittle became the third-fastest tight end to reach 600 career receptions, doing so in 126 games. The only players to do it faster were Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce (110 games) and former Dallas Cowboys
tight end Jason Witten (125 games).
There were many questions on how Kittle would recover and whether he would be the same player. Kittle suffered an Achilles tear last season during the 49ers' wild-card playoff victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.
He underwent surgery and spent the entire offseason receiving treatment and rehabbing his injury to make a triumphant return to the team.
The 32-year-old tight end is entering his 10th NFL season, all spent with the 49ers. The former All-Pro appeared in 11 games for the 49ers during the 2025 season, tallying 57 catches on 69 targets for 628 yards and seven touchdowns, averging 11 yards per catch.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Kittle reaches 600 catches, scores first TD since Achilles injury
