49ers GM John Lynch says George Kittle will be game-time decision Sunday (paywall)
“Lynch said the short week — the 49ers arrived back from Indianapolis at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday — might make it tough for Kittle to get back on the field this weekend against the Chicago Bears. And he may want to make sure the ankle is fully healed for the postseason. But …
“The things we have going for us are it wasn’t the dreaded high-ankle sprain,” Lynch said on his weekly KNBR radio show. “It was the low-ankle sprain.
George is recovering really well. Is he going to get there? We don’t know. George is the type of player where you probably give him that latitude, where hey, we’ll give you all the way up to the game.”
George Kittle misses third straight practice, status vs. Bears still in question
“Coach Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers expect to open the practice window for wide receiver Jacob Cowing next week. Cowing has spent the season on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury.”
49ers vs. Bears: The Standard’s 5 fast predictions
“Kawakami: 49ers 30, Bears 20. Purdy, McCaffrey, and Shanahan are on too much of a roll right now to predict anything less than four 49ers touchdowns. And everybody else in the organization can ride the momentum toward potentially earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC. I don’t know that the 49ers will get all the way there, but I don’t think this game will be the impediment. (Yes, my nine-game streak of correct predictions ended last week. Let’s see if I can get a one-game streak going.)“
Kyle Shanahan shares final updates ahead of 49ers-Bears Week 17 matchup
‘You mentioned how much the run game has improved. Is it fair to say that the offensive line has improved and there’s been a steady correlation there?
“I’d say that, but I’d also say I think our receivers have really improved, our run blocking, I think our tight ends have. I think we get better as coaches understanding what our group does best. But yeah, with the run game, the obvious things are always O-Line and running back, but I don’t believe in that at all. I think to have a really good running game it’s all 11 people. You also have to have a good scheme and you’ve got to stick with it And I think the guys have done that.”
John Lynch reveals how 49ers already are preparing for 2026 NFL season
“The 2026 NFL Draft is about four months out, but the 49ers scouts assigned with driving the information gathering process on prospects recently convened in the Bay Area for an important meeting.
“In terms of next year, our scouts were all in for the [Week 15 matchup vs. the Tennessee Titans], we bring them in once a year. And right after that, that following week is draft meetings. So we just had our college, what we call our ‘Winter Meetings’ and go through all our draftable players and the free agents. It’s a long week. 5 a.m. till eight at night, Tarik Ahmad and Dom DeCicco, they run a tough ship and those guys are in there but we get a lot done. It’s kind of the first iteration of that draft class that we’ve been watching all along, and we start setting our board.”
While the groundwork for the draft is being built out, San Francisco’s pro personnel department also is laying the foundation for the veteran free agents the 49ers could potentially pursue in the coming offseason.
“This following week after the Bears, we’ll get into our free agent landscape meetings and we’ll start talking about our first introduction — and when I say first introduction I mean we watch players all the time and you’re always tagging the ones you know are free agents,” Lynch explained. “You start to go through Fred Gammage and his staff on the pro personnel department. They’ll take you through the upcoming free agents, the ones they think are good fits for us. We do a comprehensive look so that we’re ready come the offseason to go to our coaches and for me to go to Kyle like, ‘These are some guys we think would be good fits.’ Then they’ll take it and start watching.
“It never stops, it’s kind of perpetual motion, but that’s what you have to do to always be ready for what’s to come.”
Lynch confirmed the 49ers’ first draft board for the 2026 class is up, but that there will be plenty of changes in the coming months before San Francisco makes its selections.
“First draft board is up and subject to change. It will change a lot, but you got to start somewhere,” Lynch told Maiocco. “When I say, ‘start,’ a lot of these guys we’ve been watching for four years but now you start to see the strengths of the draft. And that helps you in free agency because you know, ‘maybe we don’t have to dabble in this position because we like the depth and quality of the draft class.’ So it all is a piece that works together. You’ve got to do the due diligence, you have to put in the hard work so you’re prepared for everything.”
No Super Bowl talk at 49ers’ offseason gathering. Now they can reach it without leaving home (paywall)
“[Gus Bradley] is the most unbelievable speaker I’ve ever heard when it comes to fun pump-up speeches,” running back Christian McCaffrey said.“
