49ers' George Kittle Regains 29 Pounds After Surgery to Return to Playing Weight

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is back to his regular playing weight after having undergone surgery for core muscle surgery.

The five-time Pro Bowler told reporters Tuesday he has returned to 243 pounds, which is right around where he's listed (250 pounds) on the 49ers' official site, after previously tipping the scales at 214.

During a June appearance on Bussin' with the Boys (via NBC Sports Bay Area's Will Simonds), Kittle said his core surgery significantly disrupted his ability to work out this offseason. That contributed to him shedding around 30 pounds.

"I couldn't lift," he said. "I couldn't do any upper body because of my shoulder and my rib, and I couldn't do lower [body] because of my core surgery. … I didn't lift from the Super Bowl until like almost mid-March. "I went a month without doing anything, I wasn't supposed to do anything."

Kittle told reporters in May that his core muscle injury overlapped with a little over half of the 2023 season. That didn't stop him from appearing in 16 games, catching 65 passes for 1,020 yards and six touchdowns. He was a first-team All-Pro for the second time in his career.

Not only is the 30-year-old fully healthy again, but he also seems to be at his physical peak relatively speaking.

The last time Kittle played a full regular-season schedule was 2018, so nobody will be too surprised if he's briefly sidelined yet again in 2024. But he showed a season ago how productive he can still be when he's operating at less than 100 percent.