Niners Nation
Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Thursday, June 5th, 2025
Aiyuk embracing 49ers coaching role while continuing ACL rehab
“Those are things he hasn’t seen from his perspective,” Hankerson said of Aiyuk. “He’s seen it from a player’s perspective. But sitting in that meeting room now, I’ve said to him, ‘Brandon, you can be in here and be my coach, you can be my assistant.’
“And he loves that because he can coach up the guys and he helps big-time with that. So just mentally, it’s been one of the biggest things for him.”
Kawakami Mailbag, Part 2: Saleh’s 49ers future, NFC West signals, and more (paywall)
“I don’t think Aiyuk’s relationship with anybody in the organization is great — his best friend on the team was always Deebo Samuel, who was shipped away the first chance the 49ers got this offseason. Aiyuk might’ve been traded this offseason, too, if he wasn’t still recovering from his knee injury.
But I think Aiyuk and Shanahan can find common ground if Aiyuk has a great season. Aiyuk didn’t get the huge contract because he’s everybody’s buddy, he got it because he’s been a great target for Brock Purdy. He’s still the 49ers’ best option down field. If Aiyuk is back putting up 120-yard, two-touchdown performances by October, the football will matter most. It always does.”
“The kid’s football IQ is through the roof,” Bullocks said. “He’s very smart. He’s a fast learner, he pick’s it up. So I can’t wait, and I’m excited by him. I can’t wait to get him on the field.”
I pushed him to expound on that.
“I knew he was smart, but I didn’t think that his football IQ was that smart, and he was just going through the plays,” Bullocks said. “I’d be like, ‘Talk me through this play.’ He telling me everybody’s responsibility, all 11 on the field, the whole secondary, what’s the holes in the defense. I left that meeting — you can ask Ray Brown. We [were] both impressed with him, outside his athleticism. That’s before he ran the 4.3 and we liked him even more leaving that interview.”
Some praise can ring hollow. This didn’t.
As Bullocks suggested, I then talked to Brown, who had a similar experience talking to Sigle at the Shrine Bowl.
He laughed and shook his head in a sort of disbelief when I asked about that IQ.
“Off the charts. Off the charts,” Brown said. “That dude loves ball, but he knows it. He knows it extremely well, just being able to have the versatility of playing three different positions, and to be able to understand the information, not just repeat what you say, but he can take it and he can apply it. Like, the dude’s just unbelievably smart.”
How 49ers rookie Stout impressed future defensive backs coach
“I heard him quite a few times,” Brown said of Stout. “I...
