49ers coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t expect star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to miss the rest of the 2024 NFL season after he was leveled in Sunday’s 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Aiyuk, of course, caught a 15-yard pass from San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy with roughly 45 seconds remaining in the second quarter before Kansas City safety Chamarri Conner plowed into the wideout’s knee, tearing his ACL and MCL.
Shanahan initially thought Aiyuk would be fine after a half-time breather. Shanahan explained how he learned of the severity of his Pro Bowler’s injury in speaking to Greg Papa on the latest episode of NBC Sports Bay Area’s “49ers Game Plan."
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“I didn’t know until halftime, because you couldn’t really see it live,” Shanahan told Papa. “I knew they tackled him, but I didn’t know how it hit. … I just thought he had got the wind knocked out of him, or something. It was right toward the end [of the first half], so we were coaching up Jacob Cowing on some things, just while BA was hurt … We go right into halftime, and we got only like eight minutes I feel like before I put the plays on the board, then I talked to the team for like 10 seconds, and then get right back out there.
“And before I’m putting all the plays in, I’m just yelling for a trainer, because I need to know where BA is because I’m putting some plays on for him. Then, the trainer runs over and he tells me -- and I wasn’t expecting it -- and it crushed me … and you’re like, ‘All right,’ start talking to the rest of the group and we got to move some guys around.”
The 49ers trailed 14-3 at the time of Aiyuk’s injury. They already were without wide receiver Jauan Jennings due to a lingering hip issue, and wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who was under the weather. San Francisco also has been without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, who is sidelined with bilateral Achilles tendonitis.
However, Shanahan was impressed with the receivers who stepped up in Aiyuk's absence.
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“With it being [Ricky Pearsall’s] first game, we were expecting to ease him in a little bit,” Shanahan explained to Papa. “We told him to focus on one spot -- we weren’t going to move him around in the game -- but to still study stuff just in case. Very quickly, I’m like, ‘All right, Ricky. We’re going to figure out how well you studied because we got to put you at some other positions. Jake, you’re going to play a lot more than expected. Chris Conley, Ronnie Bell, we’re going to move you guys everywhere. So, let’s go.’
“And I was proud of those guys; they rose to the occasion, they were on their stuff, they didn’t make too many mistakes, and they helped us get through it.”
San Francisco might have lost, but Shanahan appreciated his players’ readiness in the face of disaster. Pearsall, in particular, made his 49ers regular-season debut against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs just six weeks after he was shot in the chest.
Shanahan added that he had a good conversation with Aiyuk after the game and that the 26-year-old will be back at some point.
“I talked to BA,” Shanahan said. “It’s always hard. You don’t have a lot to say, you just want to tell him you feel for him. You know they’re down. I just FaceTimed him on my way home; he was already home sitting on his couch with his family. He was pretty down. But BA’s a spiritual guy, he’ll be all right.
“He knows it was tough, he was pretty sad. But he appreciated the call and was sorry he couldn’t finish the game -- guys always say the right stuff like that, but it’s the last thing on your mind. He’ll have to go through a tough rehab, but he’ll be back in the future.”
A long road to recovery lies ahead for Aiyuk. And San Francisco, too, has to figure out its next steps regarding the wide receiver position before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.