49ers' George Kittle Apologizes to Fantasy Managers After 0 Catches in Injury Return

San Francisco 49ers star tight end George Kittle admitted that he failed to live up to his own expectations in his return from a hamstring injury in Sunday night's 20-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

While speaking to reporters on Monday, Kittle apologized to fantasy football managers and sports bettors for recording no catches in his first time back on the field following his five-game absence.

"Personally, I thought with the game plan based on the walkthrough yesterday, I thought I was gonna have 150 yards and two touchdowns," Kittle said. "So, sorry fantasy coaches and anybody that bet on me, my bad, blame [head coach] Kyle Shanahan, not me."

Shanahan said before the game that Kittle will not be playing on a snap count against the Falcons. Still, the 49ers relied on the run game in the victory, as star running back Christian McCaffrey racked up 129 yards and two touchdowns on the ground while leading the team with seven catches for 72 yards.

▶️ Full Falcons-49ers Recap

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Despite his lack of production, Kittle made it clear that he had no problem handling the run-blocking duties of his position throughout the game.

"Rushing the ball more than 30 times means you're owning the time of possession and not letting (Falcons running back Bijan Robinson) get a ton of touches," Kittle said, per The Athletic's Vic Tarfur. "It gives you that mindset that you're going to hit people in the face as hard as we possibly can and give Christian and Brian Robinson as many carries as we can."

Kittle's next chance to satisfy fantasy football managers will come when the 49ers visit the Houston Texans on Sunday.