After making all of it the way in which to the Tremendous Bowl however shedding to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs final season, the San Francisco 49ers got here into the 2024 marketing campaign with hopes of returning to the large sport.
With the 49ers bringing again comparatively the identical roster, they have been thought of to be among the best groups within the NFC, with a fantastic likelihood of going the space, however the accidents have piled up, resulting in a shedding document of 3-4 coming into Week 8.
The 49ers have been with out working again Christian McCaffrey for all the season up to now and now need to cope with the lack of extensive receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who went down with a season-ending knee damage within the loss to the Chiefs in Week 7.
The 49ers have been lastly in a position to get rookie wideout Ricky Pearsall on the sphere, however shedding Aiyuk is critical for a group with title-contending aspirations, particularly if the restoration time is intensive.
Dr. Nirav Pandya of UCSF Well being mentioned he believes the timeline for Aiyuk’s return to the sphere might be greater than a yr.
“The important thing factor for him is whether or not there’s any cartilage or meniscus harm. … As a result of that may actually push again a timeline and make it extra like 11, 12, 13 months versus 9 or 10 months,” Pandya mentioned, by way of 95.7 The Recreation.
Maybe much more regarding, even when Aiyuk does return, Pandya mentioned his manufacturing might by no means return to its earlier stage.
The 49ers teaching employees is concentrated on the gamers at present on the roster and getting out of their funk to reclaim their standing as a respectable contender within the NFC.
It stays to be seen if San Francisco can dig out of the opening its dug, however there’s an opportunity head coach Kyle Shanahan can work out how you can work with what he has proper now.