San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch has had time to reflect on the team's latest injury setback. Brandon Aiyuk's season ended suddenly after the wide receiver suffered a torn ACL and MCL against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
While Aiyuk hadn't yet delivered the standout season fans anticipated after he became one of the NFL's highest-paid receivers, Lynch felt the veteran wideout was beginning to find his rhythm. After missing the offseason due to a contract dispute, Aiyuk was poised to make a more significant impact in the second half of the season. Now, unfortunately, that chance is gone.
"That was crushing," Lynch said during his weekly interview on Bay Area radio station KNBR. "B.A. is a guy who, one of his greatest strengths, and with any player, he's been available. Going back to college, he's just not a guy who's been injured a lot. A very durable player, excellent player.
"The sad thing is he was really just starting to hit his stride, and I think was about to take off. I think he was going to have a big game in that game (against the Chiefs) and had his best week of practice. Really, I told him before the game it's the best week of practice I had seen a receiver as a member of the Niners in my time. He just looked like a big-time receiver out there who was about to bust out."
Aiyuk had only accumulated 374 receiving yards on 25 catches this season without finding the end zone. However, his potential was on full display in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals, where he recorded a season-high eight catches for 147 yards.
"And so, it's a bummer for so many reasons," Lynch added. "Brandon will attack the rehab. He's in that stage now. It feels like, when guys hurt their knees and they have to have surgery to repair it, they like them to do some rehab and get that ready, and he's kind of in that phase. And I think in the next couple of weeks, we'll have the surgery and get on with the rehab.
"So that was a blow for our team. It was obviously a blow for Brandon and his family, and our hearts go out to him. Fortunately, we're fairly deep at that position, and now some young guys got to step up, and we've got a roll."
You can listen to Lynch's entire interview below.
