After one of the most impressive, gritty wins on a Thursday night, the San Francisco 49ers are finally starting to get some encouraging injury news trickling in.

As reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN, tight end George Kittle is set to likely miss one more game for the 49ers but has an expected return timetable of Week 7 against the Atlanta Falcons.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Friday that Kittle would be a “long shot” to play in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He’s been on IR since sustaining a hamstring injury in the season opening win against the Seattle Seahawks and had to miss four games as a result, which brings us to Thursday’s night’s 26-23 overtime thriller against the Los Angeles Rams.

Kittle is missed in both a tangible and intangible sense; his production in Week 1 in just 21 snaps was four catches for 25 yards and a touchdown. But it’s his blocking and presence in the run game that makes the San Francisco offense work as intended.

Notably, the Niners have yet to record 100 rushing yards in a game since Week 1. It hasn’t seemed to matter much as they push on with a 4-1 record – and three crucial divisional victories within the first five weeks of the NFL season.

Through Kittle’s absence, they’ve also been able to get something out of his depth in the tight end room. Jake Tonges was third in receptions against the Rams with seven for 41 yards and a touchdown. He’s also third on the team now with 19 catches for 166 yards and ties Christian McCaffrey with a team-leading three touchdowns.

It doesn’t replace Kittle’s production as a top pass-catcher for the team, but it’s been good to see the development of Tonges in addition to Luke Farrell.

But the run game has been strained, and Kittle can draw defenders back into the box and relieve some pressure off the passing game. In doing so, that’ll hopefully minimize what the team has asked Christian McCaffrey to do in these first few weeks as a de facto RB1 and WR1.

However, it’s important with a hamstring strain not to rush things. A setback could cause Kittle to frankly miss half the season. And San Francisco has shown they can get things done with what they have.

They couldn’t really afford to lose Kittle amid a stretch of three divisional matchups, and yet the Niners have, and came out 3-0 in those contests. It gives them more breathing room than perhaps anticipated while assessing the timeline for Kittle’s return.