49ers rookie WR Brandon Aiyuk is officially listed as questionable for the team’s season opener Sunday vs. the Arizona Cardinals. Aiyuk hurt his hamstring in late August, and didn’t return to practice until Thursday. He was limited Thursday and Friday. San Francisco would love to have their first-round pick on the field, especially with Deebo Samuel out, but head coach Kyle Shanahan said he’s not in a hurry to rush Aiyuk back.
“My process is different with each individual. Kind of depends on how I feel about the individual and what they can handle, what they can do with the limited reps,” Shanahan said Friday in a video conference. “One good thing is we usually don’t let guys come back and put them in practice until they’ve had a few healthy days before that. So, it means he’s going in the right direction. It means he probably right now, I feel he could get through it. We’ve just got to decide on what that risk is. That’ll be something that you constantly talk to the trainers about, but it’s also, at this point, something that we’ve got to keep really talking to Brandon about. We’ll make sure that we do what’s best for him.”
Aiyuk’s status will probably come down to how he feels in warmups on Sunday.
If he does suit up though it’s hard to imagine San Francisco plays him a full workload of snaps. Aiyuk, a rookie who hasn’t had a ton of practice time, already figured to see a scaled-down role compared to what the team envisions for him long-term. We probably see an even smaller of that Sunday if he plays.
The key for Aiyuk will be what he can does with limited touches. Expect some quick throws for easy catches in space where he can utilize his after-the-catch ability a handful of times. If Aiyuk can be effective in a minimized role, it will bode well for his future with the club as he gets healthier and more familiar with the offense in the coming weeks.
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