Niners Nation
There’s never a dull moment at 4949 Marie P. DeBartolo Way. The San Francisco 49ers have been a staple on the transaction wire during August. Unfortunately, it’s not for the reasons the team wants. Injuries are mounting. The Niners have churned the bottom of their roster unlike any team in the NFL during the preseason.
General manager John Lynch is an optimist. He joined KNBR Thursday morning to provide injury updates, timelines for potential returns, and the status of the 49ers’ wide receiver room. Let’s start with the team’s highest-paid player in the wide receiver room, Brandon Aiyuk.
Unsurprisingly, Lynch said, “I think we feel comfortable saying he’s not going to be there Week 1, and then, it will probably be some time after that.” It was always far-fetched that Aiyuk would be ready by Week 1, especially after suffering ACL and MCL tears, along with other damage to his knee.
Now that we know it’s all but official that Aiyuk will begin the season on the PUP list and miss the first four games, the schedule sets up for the 49ers star wideout to return in Week 6, not Week 5. San Francisco travels to Los Angeles to face the Rams on Thursday night in Week 5.
A mini-bye week will be followed by a trip across country to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers. If Aiyuk’s rehab continues to go well, and Lynch said, “He’s recovered well,” then Week 6 becomes more realistic for Aiyuk.
Lynch didn’t want to put firm dates on Aiyuk’s return: “I’m not going to put exact timelines, but hopefully, sometime in this season, he’s playing the type of football we know, when he’s out there, that he is expected to, and expects himself to play at. And it’ll be a big boost to our team.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that wide receiver Russell Gage would miss a little over a week on Thursday morning. Lynch revealed when Gage’s MCL sprain occurred:
That’s one of those ones, we were out at practice, we were doing 1-on-1s, and at first, I thought he had his ankle. It looked like it buckled. I think, given what I saw on the field — Russell’s been having a really good camp — and I was standing with Kyle [Shanahan] right when it happened, and we just said, ‘Oh, no,’ because it looked like his leg buckled.
So, I think a slight MCL sprain was actually welcome news. He will miss some time. We expect him to be ready for our opener, and I think that was somewhat — it’s not ideal — but it’s better than the alternative with what we saw. But he’s working through that.”
Lynch didn’t have much of an update about Robinson’s suspension. He’ll miss three games. Based on how Robinson looked during the preseason, he should be one of Brock Purdy’s go-to targets. Robinson looked extremely comfortable in Shanahan’s offense. It was a promising sign....
