49ers coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t expect star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to miss the rest of the 2024 NFL season after he scored the equalizer in Sunday’s 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Aiyuk, of course, caught a 15-yard pass from San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy with about 45 seconds left in the second quarter before Kansas City safety Chamarri Conner hit the wideout’s knee, tearing his ACL and ACL.

Shanahan initially assumed Aiyuk would be fine after a halftime break. Shanahan explained how he learned of the severity of his Pro Bowler’s injury while speaking with Greg Papa on the latest episode of NBC Sports Bay Area’s “49ers Game Plan.”

“I didn’t know until halftime because you couldn’t really see it live,” Shanahan told Dad. “I knew they hit him, but I didn’t know how it hit. … I just thought he got the wind knocked out of him or something. It was near the end (of the first half) so we were coaching Jacob Cowing on some things just as BA was injured… We’re going straight into halftime and we only have, I think, about eight minutes before I do that put games on the board, then I talked to the team for about 10 seconds and then walked right back out.

“And before I run out all the plays, I just call for a coach because I need to know where BA is because I’m running out a few plays for him. Then the coach runs up to me and tells me – and I wasn’t expecting that – and it floored me… and you’re like, “Okay, start talking to the rest of the group and we can get started.” a few People there.”

The 49ers were down 14-3 at the time of Aiyuk’s injury. They were already without wide receiver Jauan Jennings and wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who was injured, due to an ongoing hip problem. San Francisco was also without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, who is out with bilateral Achilles tendonitis.

However, Shanahan was impressed with the receivers who stepped up in Aiyuk’s absence.

“Since it was (Ricky Pearsall’s) first game, we were expecting to take some of the pressure off him,” Shanahan Papa explained. “We told him to focus on one spot – we wouldn’t move him around in the game – but still study things just in case. Really quickly I say, “All right, Ricky.” We’re going to find out how well you studied because we need to move you to other positions. Jake, you’ll be playing a lot more than expected. Chris Conley, Ronnie Bell, we’ll take you anywhere. So, let’s go.’

“And I was proud of those guys; They rose to the occasion, they did their best, they didn’t make too many mistakes and they helped us get through it.”

San Francisco might have lost, but Shanahan appreciated his players’ preparedness in the face of disaster. Notably, Pearsall made his 49ers regular-season debut against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, just six weeks after he was shot in the chest.

Shanahan added that he had a good conversation with Aiyuk after the game and that the 26-year-old will be back at some point.

“I spoke to BA,” Shanahan said. “It’s always difficult. You don’t have much to say, you just want to tell him that you feel for him. You know they’re down. I just FaceTimed him on the way home; He was already sitting on his couch at home with his family. He was pretty depressed. But BA is a spiritual guy, he’ll be fine.

“He knows it was hard, he was pretty sad. But he was happy about the call and regretted that he couldn’t finish the game – guys always say the right things like that, but it’s the last thing on your mind. He will have to go through a tough rehab, but he will be back in the future.”

Aiyuk has a long road to recovery ahead of him. And San Francisco also has to think about the next steps regarding the wide receiver position before the trade deadline on November 5th.

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