The San Francisco 49ers are battling the injury bug in the worst way. And the news regarding wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk isn’t going to make Niners fans feel any better.
Aiyuk will miss the remainder of the 2024 NFL season after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in San Francisco’s Week 7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs:
If you’ve ever wondered why players take such hard-line stances in their quests for guaranteed money in contract extensions, the Brandon Aiyuk situation is an example of why they do it. In an alternate universe in which Aiyuk doesn’t sign an extension, he would be heading into free agency rehabbing a season-ending injury and unlikely to net the type of lucrative contract that would’ve been easy to make a case for based on his production with the 49ers. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport tweets it will be a long road ahead for Aiyuk. That stinks. But at least he has financial security.
Brandon Aiyuk’s injury is just the latest to sting the 49ers
The folks at The 33rd team rattled off a list of injured 49ers players. It’s a doozy:
- Running back Christian McCaffrey
- Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk
- Defensive lineman Javon Hargrave
- Wide receiver Jauan Jennings
- Offensive lineman Jon Feliciano
- Defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos
- Linebacker Dre Greenlaw
- Safety Talanoa Hufanga
- Kicker Jake Moody
- Kicker Matthew Wright
Seeing the Brandon Aiyuk news served as a reminder that the San Francisco 49ers are on the Chicago Bears’ schedule later in the season. Going into the year, I figured the Week 14 matchup could be a potential litmus test for the Bears. And while it still might be, the Niners will go into that game without some serious firepower.
Sure, some of these injury situations could clear up between now and when the game kicks off on Dec. 8. But a short-handed Niners team is about to play four of its next five games against NFC teams with real postseason hopes. I’ll be curious to see how things shake out on that front and how it impacts the NFC playoff race around the Bears.