The San Francisco 49ers hosted the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, and while Kyle Shanahan was without Brock Purdy, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and Brandon Aiyuk, arguably four of their top five or six players, they were able to secure a 20-10 win.
While they didn’t have all of those impact players, San Francisco got tight end George Kittle back from a hamstring injury that cost him the previous five weeks.
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Kittle didn’t make much of an impact in the passing game, but he was huge for the 49ers’ rushing attack, helping Christian McCaffrey have his best game of the year, by far.
After the game, Kittle was asked about his conversation with rookie left guard Connor Colby, who had a reception off of a deflected pass and helped carry McCaffrey into the end zone for a touchdown.
“I said it was a great job, and we’re gonna get just a little bit better every single day, and that I expect to see him at our body maintenance on Monday’s and Tuesday’s because he does not know how to take care of his body yet as a professional athlete,” Kittle said.
Colby entered the league as a seventh-round pick out of Kittle’s alma mater (Iowa) and went into training camp trying to earn a roster spot. For the last few weeks, the 22-year-old has been thrust into a starting job after left guard Ben Bartch went down with an ankle sprain in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints.
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If Colby can learn how to take care of his body the way that Kittle has, he could play well enough to earn the starting job in the future.
More 49ers: NFL power rankings: Where are 49ers after Week 7 win over Falcons?
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers’ George Kittle calls out Connor Colby’s fitness after Week 7 win