San Francisco 49ers

George Kittle talks Jimmy Garoppolo and 'freak athlete' Trey Lance

Published Feb. 11, 2022 1:59 p.m. ET

Jimmy Garoppolo's future in San Francisco might be uncertain, but teammate George Kittle didn't hold back from singing his praises to Colin Cowherd.

On "The Herd" this week, the 49ers' star tight end discussed Garoppolo's maturity and leadership this season with the arrival of rookie QB Trey Lance — the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

"Do I think it was hard for him? You know what's crazy? If I did, he didn't give me any indication that it was hard for him," he said. "He was consistent every single day. He was the same guy every single day. He's been nothing but incredibly kind to every single person [who has] come in and out of our building, whether it's Trey Lance, Nate Sudfeld, other quarterbacks, tight ends.

"He's kind to everybody, and he's the leader that you want in a locker room. He gets the guys fired up.

49ers' George Kittle on Jimmy G's leadership

Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle joins Colin Cowherd to discuss San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance.

"Like I said, he's been completely consistent for us week in and week out, and all he wants to do is work and get better," Kittle continued. "He doesn't really listen to anything that happens on the outside. I'm very impressed with how he's handled it for the last four years — especially this past year. All he's done is work."

Kittle also told Cowherd the biggest difference he sees in practice between the rookie and veteran QBs.

"Trey's got a little bit more zing on him. He definitely has a big arm," he said. "He can make throws all over the field, which is really cool to see. Jimmy can too, they just do it differently. Trey can move around — moves around a lot better. He's kind of a freak athlete. I'm excited to see Trey's improvement, really. … He just has to learn our offense, and he has to learn how to make the right reads and get the ball out quick [because] that's what Jimmy's really good at.

"I'm looking forward to Trey's progress, and what I love about Trey is you can tell he loves the game of football. You can tell he wants to get better. He's not cocky by any means. He is confident, but he's got a lot of great attributes that I think can make him a really good football player."

The Niners went 9-7 in games Garoppolo started in the 2021 regular season, while going 1-1 with Lance.

Kittle's remarks come just a couple of days after Deebo Samuel, the 49ers' star wide receiver, stressed how well Lance was set up under Garoppolo's tutelage since being drafted third overall in 2021.