San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters last week that wide receivers Trent Taylor and Jalen Hurd, both on injured reserve, had setbacks in their recoveries. The team had hoped that either — perhaps both — could return and contribute this season.
NFL teams are allowed to bring two players back from injured reserve in a given season, so long as the designation was placed on the player after the 53-player roster cutdown deadline.
At the time, Shanahan didn't dismiss the possibility of either receiver still returning. He just didn't sound too optimistic about the chances of it happening.
"Not as much (chance for an earlier return) as there was earlier," Shanahan said. "They both had chances to come back earlier. Both of them have had setbacks, which had to start a couple of things over. We haven't ruled them out, but I'm still hoping for it, but it's not something we can for sure count on."
Taylor suffered a foot injury during a practice before the start of the season, while Hurd sustained a back injury during a preseason game.
General manager John Lynch, like Shanahan, is hopeful but not counting on either Taylor or Hurd returning to the football field this year. Lynch joined Matt Maiocco for the latest 49ers Insider Podcast and discussed his feelings on the chances of either injured player coming off of injured reserve.
"Hopeful; I don't know if I'd say optimistic," Lynch told Maiocco. "I think Kyle mentioned that they each had their setbacks. Nothing that was completely unexpected with their specific injuries. I think they just had things that sometimes happen.
"'Hopeful' is the word. 'Optimistic?' Probably not, and we'll see where that goes."
The 49ers did receive some receiving help last week after a trade sent veteran Emmanuel Sanders from the Denver Broncos to San Francisco. Sanders hauled in a touchdown during the 49ers' first drive on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.
When asked why the 49ers didn't make any other moves before Tuesday's trade deadline, Lynch jokingly responded, "We don't have any draft choices left."
San Francisco does, actually. Six, in fact. It doesn't, however, currently have any Day 2 draft picks after surrendering its second-rounder for Dee Ford in March and third- and fourth-rounders for Sanders.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.