49ers' George Kittle: Trending toward Week 17 absence

Kittle (ankle) remains listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Bears but is considered "highly unlikely" to play, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network had previously reported late Saturday that Kittle planned to test out his sprained left ankle in a pregame workout before the 49ers reached a decision on his status for the Week 17 contest, but Schefter's report is much more pessimistic about the star tight end's ability to play through the injury. Though official word on Kittle's status will arrive when the 49ers release their inactive list 90 minutes prior to Sunday's 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff, his fantasy managers are probably best served pivoting to another option at tight end for Week 17 matchups. Assuming Kittle ends up being inactive for the contest, more snaps would open up at tight end for both Luke Farrell and Jake Tonges, with the latter representing the bigger pass-catching threat of the two.