Kittle suffers daily from a groin injury; 49ers name 6 captains

Kyle’s update, 4:37 PM PT PMHere’s a look at the 49ers’ first official injury report of the season:

DNP -TE George Kittle (groin)
OL Daniel Brunskill (hamstring)

Limited – LB Dre Greenlaw (elbow)

Full participation – DL Arik Armstead (knee)
LB Oren Burks (knee)
QB Jimmy Garoppolo (right shoulder)
T Mike McGlinchey (knee)

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan met with the media prior to practice to provide injury updates ahead of Week 1. George Kittle sustained a groin injury during Monday’s practice, so he will be out on Wednesday. Shanahan said Kittle would be day to day:

“Not sure. I was hoping he would be good today. He did a little bit on Monday and didn’t feel good today. We’ll have to see day by day.”

The 49ers announced that they had added tight end Troy Fumagalli and wide receiver Connor Wedington to the exhibition squad, eliminating Willie Snead IV.

I understand the Bears are not a major threat to the 49ers, but you want Trey Lance to go into the ground with a full set of weapons. We’ll see if Kittle trains on Thursday. If he doesn’t, it’s a safe bet he won’t be playing on Sunday.

Shanahan announced the team’s six captains:

Trent Williams

Fred Warner

Jimmie Ward

Arik Armstead

Nick Bosa

George Kittle

Naturally, questions arose as to whether Lance, the quarterback, was not named captain. Shanahan said Lance finished seventh in the team voting, while Deebo Samuel finished eighth.

Shanahan said they didn’t want to go with seven captains, and said he had no problem with Lance not being named, as rookies are generally not called captains. And yes, he knows Lance is not a rookie. But, Shanahan added: “I always look at the final standings. I could cheat if I wanted to.”

Much will be said about Lance not being named captain, especially after Jimmy Garoppolo was three years old. If the memory is right, last season was the first for Jimmie Ward. Once you recognize that Lance had to beat five All-Pro players along with Ward, you realize he didn’t stand much of a chance.

Here’s Lance about not being called a captain:

“I don’t think you can look at one of those six guys and say, ‘That guy’s an idiot.’ I voted for each of those six guys. Those guys proved it.”

As someone who is involved in this sport on a daily basis, I can also confidently say that naming a captain is not the end of everything, nor does it have any added meaning.