The San Francisco 49ers have had issues keeping their running backs healthy. They've had issues keeping everyone healthy, but the depth at running back has been tested over the years. Tuesday's biggest 49ers-related storyline was the team trading running back Jeff Wilson Jr. to the Miami Dolphins for a fifth-round draft pick. General manager John Lynch discussed the decision at length during a conference call shortly after the trade deadline had passed.
The general manager was also asked how the trade impacts the 49ers' running back room this season. Yes, the team added star running back Christian McCaffrey via a trade on October 20. But does the decision to part ways with Wilson create any anxiety, given the position's history with injuries?
"Yeah, I think at that position, that's always part of the equation," Lynch responded. "I think what we had to do was weigh the depth even beyond that. We have got an extremely deep group.
"At some point, you can only keep so many just from a roster approach as well, so we knew when we made the Christian move that somebody was going to have to go, and ultimately, Jeff's the one that somebody made a move that we felt was worth moving on and we did."
Lynch added, "Decisions like that are never made lightly, but we do feel great about that running back room."
Aiyuk on McCaffrey trade
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was sitting at home playing Madden on October 20 when his phone started exploding with text messages. That's when he learned that a big trade just went down. His Niners had just traded for McCaffrey.
"My first thing was I was like, 'My Madden team is going to be crazy,'" Aiyuk said Tuesday morning on KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "My real team really is going to be crazy, but I was excited to get him. I was excited to see him in the locker room. Of course, I watched him coming out (of college). ... We're super excited to have him, and I'm glad that we do."
McCaffrey's presence has everyone excited for the 49ers' chances this season. The team is 4-4, but the big 31-14 win over the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, and the fact that the Niners will have several players return from injuries after the bye week, has the Bay Area team's stock soaring.
Aiyuk's consistent play in recent weeks is another reason to get excited, which brings us to...
Aiyuk breaks out
The third-year wideout caught six passes for 81 yards and hauled in a touchdown from McCaffrey against the Rams. It was Aiyuk's third consecutive game catching six-or-more passes for 81-or-more receiving yards. He is on pace for his first season of 1,000-or-more receiving yards.
"Obviously, I feel like I have a lot more to go, a lot more that I can do," Aiyuk said. "I think that's one of the only things that I care about on a daily basis, is being able to be my best self as this year continues to progress. But I think the main thing is finally understanding [how] this league goes. You have to get better every single week. You have to be ready to go to work every single week, especially in this offense.
"It's about Wednesday and Thursday at practice. And most of the time, when you take care of that, all you've got to do is go out there and play on Sunday, and it's fun. It's not like you're thinking a lot. It's not like you're worried about anything. Just go out there and play."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan, who has been hard on his young receiver at times, is happy to see Aiyuk playing to his potential.
"B.A.'s been great," Shanahan said Tuesday morning during his own Murph & Mac show interview. "Any time you're a first-round draft pick, and I think last year we weren't playing him a ton coming out the gate, and especially where people were expecting it, so everyone makes such a big deal about it of him being in the doghouse and all this stuff. I hear all that, but it's actually just coaching.
"People need to be coached, and a lot of these guys, sometimes, they haven't been coached that much, and it doesn't make them a bad guy or anything like that. They just, sometimes, they get offended by it because they don't have experience with it much in the past."
Shanahan explained that players are recruited out of high school, often being praised by college programs. It used to be that once you got the player on campus, you had to spend the next few years "derecruiting" them to force them to start working hard. That has changed.
"Once they get there, the recruiting just starts because now they can transfer at any time, do all this stuff," Shanahan continued. "Some of these guys, it's really hard to get [through to] them and coach them very hard because they're not used to it.
"B.A., we did that hard at first, and we worked through a lot of it. He's been great. He's risen to the challenge of everything. Even last year, when it wasn't going great at the beginning, and you've got to hear it through the media and stuff that you're in the doghouse, some people respond [one of] two ways. They either kind of get more offended and shut down, or they turn it up and do what you're asking and work hard."
Aiyuk acknowledges that Shanahan was hard on him early in his NFL career. The receiver admits that his college experience may have made the transition to the pro level more challenging.
"He tells me now, he just felt like I was never really coached the way that I should have been coached as a receiver," Aiyuk said. "Everybody tells you you're just the best thing ever, your whole life, getting recruited, and this and that, so you never fully understand what it's like to be coached by a professional."
Shanahan added, "B.A. worked through all that, and it made him so much better last year and helped him so much going on that run. He came back this season, and you could tell we didn't have to do anything. He learned from [his] experiences last year and came [in] this year, ready to go."
Mitchell update
General manager John Lynch spoke with reporters via a conference call after the 49ers traded running back Jeff Wilson Jr. to the Miami Dolphins. Unfortunately, the acquisition of McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell's impending return made Wilson expendable.
Lynch was asked about the timeline for Mitchell, who is attempting to return from the MCL sprain he suffered during Week 1. Could the second-year running back return for the 49ers' Week 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers?
"I think it's certainly a possibility," Lynch said. "Elijah will be around here. The old adage in football, if you don't play, you stay during a bye week, and that's the case. All those guys are staying around here, doing their rehab, and Elijah's one of those guys.
"He's been tracking really well, but we'll see how he is when we return on Monday. He's going to, like I said, be here working hard just as he has been. And the progress has been good. Where that ends up, I'm not sure."
Armstead and Kinlaw updates
Shanahan provided an update on defensive lineman Arik Armstead, who has not played since Week 4 as he deals with foot and ankle injuries. Could he return for the 49ers' game against the Los Angeles Chargers after the bye week?
The coach was also asked about Javon Kinlaw, who can't return until after that Week 10 game against the Chargers.
"We'll see how this week goes," Shanahan said. "We've got a whole week of rehab, and I think Armstead is ahead of Kinlaw, I believe, but we've just got to see how it goes this week."
Defense gets its swagger back
The 49ers defense was dominant at the start of the season. Then things fell apart during a Week 5 visit to the Carolina Panthers. The situation got worse a week later against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The defense looked better on Sunday against the Rams. Maybe things are starting to turn around for defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans' unit.
"I just thought it was a really gutty performance, kind of weathering the storm, by our defense," Lynch said Tuesday afternoon on KNBR. "It's weird, thinking over the last two weeks, it feels like the Chiefs got after us. It felt, early in that game, like the Rams [did too]. We're the number one defense in football, statistically, and I think we got our swagger back at the end of that game and started feeling like that type of defense again. And I think that will serve us well going forward, as well."
They're no longer the top-ranked defense in the league. However, they are still No. 4 in total yards allowed and No. 7 in points allowed.
Shanahan headwear update
Before the start of the season, Shanahan expressed disappointment that the NFL threw a wrench in his hat-wearing plans for the 2022 season. The coach had hoped to wear one he liked from a previous season, but that isn't allowed.
"I've got to wear the new ones that they give this year," Shanahan said in August. "Unfortunately, there's none I like wearing. ... I don't want to go too hard and get fined or anything but trust me, I'm upset about it."
Shanahan added that he was looking forward to the league's Salute to Service, which takes place during Weeks 10 through 12, as he likes the additional hat choices that the league and its clothing partners offer.
"There's no news. Those are my choices," Shanahan said Tuesday when asked about an update on the hat restrictions. "I just wear what they give me. I'll get a new choice, I think, when the Salute to Service hats come out, so hopefully, I'll get some different ones. But I'm just patiently waiting and taking what they give me. I'm a company guy."
