Not much good came out of the San Francisco 49ers loss to the Chiefs on Sunday. Brandon Aiyuk is gone for the season, and Deebo Samuel wound up in the hospital. But Samuel sent an emotional message to Aiyuk amid injuries, according to a post on X by Coach Yac.
“Know I’m gone lay it all on the line for you brother!!! This one hurt fr,” Samuel wrote.
Loss of WR Brandon Aiyuk a blow for 49ers
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday confirmed the dreaded knee injury for Aiyuk, according to 49ers.com.
“I talked with him last night, called him at his house,” Shanahan said. “I haven’t seen him today. He was hurting and just bummed out, you know, as exactly how you’d expect. But, BA is a strong dude and a spiritual guy, and he believes everything happens for a reason. So, he’ll be all right, but he was definitely a little down last night. I was just telling him how bad I felt for him and let him know we’re all here for him through this.”
Aiyuk suffered the setback in the final minute of the second quarter of Sunday’s game on a 15-yard reception. Aiyuk walked off the field after the play, but eventually left on the cart and did not return to action. Unfortunately, it turned into a lost season for Aiyuk, who had just 25 catches for 374 yards in six games after signing a four-year extension in August.
Last year, Aiyuk broke into the elite tier of receivers in the NFL. He finished with 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns on 75 catches.
As for Samuel, he suffered a difficult situation that began Saturday night, according to ninersnation.com.
“He went in last night,” Shanahan said. “It started acting up in the middle of the night, Saturday night, or early Sunday morning. Once we found out he had the fluid in his lungs after the game, that’s when we sent him over there.”
Shanahan added he didn’t know if the 49ers would get Samuel back this week. He said he expects Ricky Pearsall to have a much bigger workload moving forward because of the injuries at receiver. The same is true for rookie Jacob Cowing.
The 49ers still have hope superstar running back Christian McCaffrey can return.
“Christian is still progressing through his rehab,” said Shanahan. “There’s been no setbacks, so it’s all good news so far.”
