49ers-Bears updates: Niners outlast Bears in classic shootout
Follow along with live updates from tonight’s game at the bottom of this story…
SANTA CLARA — George Kittle is out and Ricky Pearsall Jr. is in.
The 49ers (11-4) will miss their play-making tight end while at the same time welcome back one of their top receivers when they host the Chicago Bears (11-4) tonight at Levi’s Stadium (5:20 p.m., NBC).
The 49ers are 10-14 since 2017 in games without Kittle and 71-52 with him in the lineup.
Kittle, despite leaving early in the season-opening win over Seattle and then missing the next five games on injured reserve, still was selected to the Pro Bowl Games on the strength of 52 receptions and seven touchdowns. He didn’t practice at all this week and coach Kyle Shanahan said he would be a game-time decision.
The hope is Kittle will be healthy enough to face Seattle in next week’s regular-season finale, although if the 49ers are not in position for the top seed or a first-round home game, he and other key players could be held out, depending on how 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan wants to handle it.
Including the Seattle game and the five that followed, Jake Tonges had the most extensive action of his NFL career. He has 27 receptions for 233 yards and four touchdowns, with 25 catches, 244 yards and three scores coming in the games Kittle missed.
Tonges, an undrafted free agent from Los Gatos High and Cal, averaged 14 offensive snaps per game when Kittle was available and 49.3 when he was injured.
Luke Farrell, signed as a free agent in the offseason, is primarily a blocker and has 11 receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
In anticipation of Kittle’s potential absence, tight end Brayden Willis was a practice squad elevation along with Eric Kendricks. Willis has played in five games with no receptions and 12 offensive snaps, doing most of his work on special teams.
Pearsall had what appeared to be a breakout game on Dec. 14 against Tennessee with six catches for 96 yards. He played through an ankle injury sustained on the first play but reinjured a posterior cruciate ligament that cost him a big chunk of time earlier in the season.
Other 49ers inactives include wide receiver Jordan Watkins, defensive lineman Robert Beal Jr., running back Isaac Guerendo, defensive lineman Kevin Givens and cornerback Renardo Green and linebacker Curtis Robinson.
With Green missing his second straight start with a neck injury, Darrell Luter Jr. will start at cornerback opposite Deommodore Lenoir.
Rookie fifth-round pick Jordan James, who has yet to carry the ball this season, will suit up for the second straight time at the expense of Guerendo, a second-year back.
Inactive players for the Bears, who have been wracked by illness, were quarterback Case Keenum, wide receiver Rome Odunze, cornerback Dallas Flowers, offensive lineman Luke Newman, wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus and linebacker Ruben Hyppolite.
Road to 1,000-1,000
Running back Christian McCaffrey has already broken 1,000 yards rushing (280 carries, 1,039 yards) and is 151 receiving yards shy in his bid to become the first player to ever have two seasons with 1,000 yards on the ground and through the air.
Averaging 56.6 yards per game receiving, McCaffrey would have to average 75.5 yards against Chicago and Seattle. McCaffrey has 11 receptions for 64 yards in his past three games.
McCaffrey (2019 with Carolina), the Rams’ Marshall Faulk (1999) and the 49ers’ Roger Craig (1985) are the only players with a 1,000-1,000 season.