John Lynch, general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, addressed the current wave of injuries impacting the team’s wide receiver group during a recent appearance on KNBR. The update comes as the team continues to manage several roster changes this preseason.
Speaking about Brandon Aiyuk’s status following an ACL and MCL injury, 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.” He noted optimism in Aiyuk’s recovery but refrained from providing a specific return date: “He’s recovered well (…) 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.”
With Aiyuk expected to miss the first four games while on the physically unable to perform list, his earliest possible return would be after Week 5. The team is monitoring his rehabilitation progress closely.
Lynch also spoke about Russell Gage’s injury. He explained that Gage sustained a slight MCL sprain during practice drills: “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.”
On Demarcus Robinson’s three-game suspension Lynch commented: “We’ll be respectful of that, and when the league makes their final determination, everybody will know right along with us. I think we’re at the stage of it, and you guys will know when we will know.” The team appears prepared for Robinson to miss those games.
Addressing overall depth concerns due to these injuries Lynch observed: “With Aiyuk being on PUP, we started with 13 guys. And now, we’re down to — at one point yesterday, I think we had seven out there.” Despite challenges in keeping players healthy during intense training periods Lynch stressed the importance of continuing preparation: “There is a way to keep guys healthy, and that’s to do nothing. But we want to get better. We’ll have enough guys come Week 1 to put a formidable group out there.”
Regarding Robbie Chosen’s performance Lynch shared: “Robbie’s done a nice job, been a welcome surprise. He can still get it. He can still run. The beauty today — we never had it — but these guys wear GPS things on their back (…) As long as he continues to do that; there’s a place for him.”
Concluding his remarks on handling adversity this preseason Lynch stated: “Now we’ve got to keep the guys who we have healthy. We’ve got to find a way to get from here to there. But that’s what our calling is. That’s what our job is. So; we’ll do it; and we’ll figure out a way; and we’re going to be all right.”
