Kittle Traveling for Australia Opener

George Kittle will travel with the San Francisco 49ers as the team leaves Wednesday for Melbourne, Australia, ahead of the Week 1 opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 10, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. After two positive practice days, Rapoport wrote that Kittle is "trending in the right direction to play."

That is the clearest Week 1 signal yet for the All-Pro tight end. Teams do not burn a long overseas flight on a player they expect to leave behind. San Francisco still has one final practice Wednesday before the trip.

What the Achilles recovery looks like now

Rapoport's report landed the morning the 49ers were due to depart. The wording mattered: two positive practice days, traveling with the team, and "trending in the right direction to play" against the Rams in Melbourne.

Kittle is working back from a torn Achilles suffered in last season's playoffs. Two clean practice days plus a plane ticket to Australia are the kind of incremental updates fantasy managers and 49ers fans have been waiting on since camp. Nothing is official about the active roster yet. The travel note is still the loudest positive of the week for a tight end who has been inching back all summer.

Bosa is making the trip too

Rapoport also reported that defensive end Nick Bosa will travel with the club. Bosa appeared in just three games last season before an ACL injury, then dealt with knee tendinitis and soreness after being medically cleared for camp. He has not practiced in several weeks but is expected to take part in Wednesday's final practice before departure.

49ers Webzone noted the obvious: Kittle likely would not board that plane if the club believed he had little chance of playing. The Rams opener is Sept. 10 in Melbourne. One more practice, then a long flight, then the first real test of whether the Achilles rehab is ready for live bullets.

Two star absences turning into two boarding passes is a very different Week 1 story than the one San Francisco feared a month ago. For other early roster hits already on the board, see Detroit parking Isiah Pacheco on IR and Washington placing Laremy Tunsil on IR. The 49ers' version is still hopeful: Kittle trending toward Melbourne, Bosa on the same flight, and one last practice before the Rams opener Down Under.