The San Francisco 49ers missed star tight end George Kittle against the Seattle Seahawks, as his absence most definitely contributed to what ended up a narrow loss in the final seconds.

San Francisco is now 5-5 and in a three-way tie for second place in an intensely competitive NFC West Division race. The 49ers will travel to Lambeau Field this weekend to take on the Green Bay Packers (7-3), and will do so absent wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (out for the year with a torn ACL) and potentially without pass rusher Nick Bosa who suffered an oblique injury against Seattle on Sunday.

The Niners have had the Packers’ number in recent years, particularly in the playoffs, and Green Bay still feels like it is perhaps a year off from true Super Bowl contention.

That said, the Packers are riding high after a blocked field goal on the last play of the game won them their Week 11 matchup against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, and going into Lambeau in late November and coming out with a victory is almost never a minimal task for any team — regardless of caliber.

All of this is stacked against the 49ers before mentioning the fact that quarterback Brock Purdy is day-to-day with a shoulder issue he sustained against the Seahawks. As such, Kittle’s presence in the lineup against Green Bay is all the more crucial.

Luckily for San Francisco, the team got good news on that front Wednesday.

“George Kittle says he will ‘for sure’ play for the 49ers Sunday against Green Bay,” David Lombardi of SF Standard wrote in an X post on Nov. 20.

Kittle has been excellent this season when healthy enough to play. The four-time All-Pro tight end has tallied 43 receptions for 560 yards and 7 touchdowns across eight appearances in 2024, missing two games so far due to injury.

He sat out last week against Seattle with a hamstring issue.