49ers' Brandon Aiyuk Return Timeline Uncertain as Injury Recovery Continues
Despite playing most of the season without several star players including quarterback Brock Purdy, tight end George Kittle, receiver Ricky Pearsall, and defensive end Nick Bosa, the San Francisco 49ers have a respectable 6-4 record and are just one game behind the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks for the NFC West division lead.
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The injury-ravaged 49ers have been hit particularly hard on offense with injuries to two QBs, a running back, five different WRs, a tight end, and two offensive linemen.
Aside from losing Bosa and All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner to season-ending injuries, the roughest part of the 49ers’ season just may be the fact that WR Brandon Aiyuk still hasn’t played a snap.
The 27-year-old is still recovering from torn ACL and MCL injuries suffered in Week 7 of last season against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Aiyuk’s Return Timeline Takes a Hit
49ers general manager John Lynch initially told reporters during the preseason that he expected Aiyuk to be back by Week 7 of the regular season. But days before the team’s Week 11 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, Lynch dropped a not-so-promising update on the All-Pro wideout.
“That’s not the intention, the intention is to get Brandon back,” Lynch told KNBR when asked if this season would be a redshirt year for Aiyuk. “We’re not there yet, we just got to get him to a place where we’re comfortable opening that window, and see if he can make it back on the field. That is the intention. But we’ll see, no absolutes there.”
Aiyuk has been practicing with the team for weeks, but he reportedly needed more time than the team initially believed for his ACL to fully heal.
When healthy, Aiyuk is arguably one of the NFL’s 10 best wide receivers. He posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2022 and 2023, totaling 75 or more catches and seven or more touchdowns both years.
But without the dynamic receiver, the 49ers’ WR corps leaves much to be desired.
Pearsall, the team’s first-round pick last season, has missed six games due to injuries and logged just 20 catches for 327 yards.
The WR-by-Committee Approach Isn’t Working
Though the 49ers lead the NFL in receptions (249) and receiving yards (2,737), the bulk of that production has come from running backs and tight ends.
In fact, 60% of San Francisco’s receptions and 49% of its receiving yards have come from Christian McCaffrey, Kittle, Jake Tonges, Kyle Juszczyk, Luke Farrell, and Brian Robinson Jr. — further emphasizing Aiyuk’s importance to the passing game.
McCaffrey, a running back, leads the team in every receiving category including receptions (69), targets (90), receiving yards (692), and touchdowns (4). The 49ers’ leading WR is Kendrick Bourne (31 catches, 482 yards), and he didn’t join the team until Week 2.
Aside from McCaffrey, the 49ers don’t have a receiver who ranks in the top 35 in the NFL in receiving yards or the top 60 in receptions.
Shannon Sharpe offers apology to Commanders’ Daron Payne
Daron Payne of the Washington Commanders was ejected from Sunday’s loss against the Detroit Lions for punching Amon-Ra St. Brown. But the incident may not be what it first seemed, and caused Shannon Sharpe to issue a direct apology to the Commanders star.
Payne was roundly criticized for throwing a haymaker at the Lions star wide receiver seemingly from out of nowhere during Sunday’s game.
As a leader of Washington’s defense, Daron Payne should know better than to throw a punch on the field. He should be suspended. There is no place for this in sports.
pic.twitter.com/A5YMmmyrZ0— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 9, 2025
It was one of two disputes in the game that also saw Javon Kinlaw get in the face of Jared Goff. The Lions quarterback then used that to prod Louis Riddick, asking for a
However, earlier this week Daron Payne posted a video to his Instagram account that showed St. Brown throwing a punch at him, which in theory led to the retaliation.
#Commanders DT Daron Payne’s latest IG story shows that WR Amon-Ra St Brown punched him first 👀 pic.twitter.com/PgmEK3EHEn
— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) November 11, 2025
The revelation of that video led to an apology from Shannon Sharpe on his
“Let me be the loudest and say, bro, I’m sorry.”
Unc issues an apology to Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw after footage reveals Amon-Ra threw the first punch@ShannonSharpe
#Nightcap pic.twitter.com/0XYL7eEQD6— Nightcap (@NightcapShow_) November 13, 2025
“He sent me the video. Let me be the loudest and say bro I’m sorry,” Sharpe said. “Javon Kinlaw, I owe you an apology too because you said he did hit Daron Payne first and we didn’t, I didn’t believe you. So I want to apologize to you. But the biggest apology goes to Daron Payne.”
“I’m sorry bro. I am so sorry as a man. I’m never going to be too prideful, I’m never going to be too wealthy, I’m never going to be anything where I can’t say I’m sorry I was wrong. Daron Payne, I was wrong. I wish you would’ve knocked his — out.”
For his part, Amon-Ra St. Brown addressed the punches on his podcast, saying that it started with being bumped by Payne, which led to him pushing back… where he says he accidentally punched him in the face. St. Brown expressed surprise over not being flagged for his actions, but then said that was when Payne struck back.
As the old adage goes, it’s usually the second player involved in one of these fights that gets caught. Sure, maybe Payne could have not reacted in such an obvious and forceful way that got himself ejected from the game. But at least Daron Payne had some Zapruder like film to let the world know that he didn’t just slug Amon-Ra St. Brown for no good reason.
