The San Francisco 49ers have been dealt a very tough hand to begin the 2025 campaign, and yet, they haven’t let it stop them from posting a 5-2 record through their first seven games. Despite dealing with a seemingly never-ending run of injuries, the Niners just keep on finding ways to win when they take the field.
Of course, the players have to go out and deliver the goods, but in the eyes of star tight end George Kittle, who recently returned from an injury of his own, there’s one guy who deserves a lot of credit for the team’s strong start to the season. That guy would be head coach Kyle Shanahan, who recently drew some effusive praise from Kittle ahead of Week 8.
George Kittle Gushes Over Kyle Shanahan
The number of injuries the 49ers have had to deal with so far this season is almost mind-boggling. On offense, quarterback Brock Purdy has only played in two games, while several of the team’s key playmakers, such as Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, and Ricky Pearsall, have all missed time with their own injuries.
Defensively, San Fran has already lost its two best players, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, to season-ending injuries. For pretty much any team, this situation would be a death knell, and in 2024 (when the team was also ravaged by injuries), that was actually true for the Niners. Instead, this time around, they have managed to persevere and not let their injuries define them, which is why they are currently sitting atop the NFC West division.
The next man up mentality is great, but it only works if the coaching staff knows how to get the best out of its players. That’s where Shanahan has managed to excel to this point, as he knows exactly how to best utilize every single player he has at his disposal. While some folks have been critical of Shanahan’s coaching in recent years, Kittle recently took a second to shell out some praise for what the veteran coach has managed to do this season.
“Coach Shanahan’s a hell of a head football coach,” Kittle said, per Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “I missed five games. Nick Bosa is on IR, Fred Warner is on IR, Brock Purdy hasn’t really played this year. Our starting receiver (Aiyuk) has been out since last year with an ACL, who’s hopefully back soon. We’ve just had guys not being able to play.”
“And the fact that Coach Shanahan is able to come up with really great game plans week in and week out, and find ways to inspire the boys to go out there and fly around and hit people in the face, he’s really, really good at what he does.”
49ers Looking to Continue Winning Ways in Week 8
GettyGeorge Kittle gushed over Kyle Shanahan’s work with the 49ers early in the 2025 campaign
Every win the 49ers are able to earn seems to get more impressive, even as they are finally beginning to get a bit healthier. And yet, there’s still a lot of football left to play this season. Making things even more challenging for San Francisco is the fact that both the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams are also 5-2, meaning that the team isn’t exactly going to run away with the No. 1 seed in its division.
All the Niners can do is focus on going 1-0 every week, and to this point, they have managed to do a pretty good job at that. San Fran will look to continue its winning ways in Week 8 when it takes on the two-win Houston Texans, with kickoff for this game scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.
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