The San Francisco 49ers entered this season with some concerning health issues, as wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, safety Malik Mustapha and defensive lineman Kevin Givens all began the year on injured reserve.
Since then, defensive end Nick Bosa, tight end George Kittle and left guard Ben Bartch have joined them with quarterback Brock Purdy and the wide receiver trio of Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall and Jordan Watkins all missing time as well.
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Despite the struggles keeping their guys on the field, the 49ers have persevered and have found a way to start their 2025 campaign with a 4-1 record, with their lone loss coming to the 4-1 Jacksonville Jaguars on Week 4. This performance has been strong enough to earn them an “A” in Frank Schwab’s quarter-season grades for Yahoo Sports.
“The Ravens and Bengals might argue, but nobody has dealt with more injury adversity than the 49ers so far. And yet, they’re 4-1,” Schwab wrote. “Can they keep that up without Nick Bosa, who is out for the season? Maybe not. But the 49ers deserve credit for winning most of their games. The win over the Rams in Week 5, with Mac Jones having a career day, was particularly impressive. Kyle Shanahan is doing a phenomenal job. And the schedule is soft enough that when the 49ers’ offense gets healthy this could still be a division champion, even with Bosa out.”
San Francisco’s start has been nothing short of immaculate, and both the players and coaching staff deserve a ton of credit for their effort thus far. If they can keep this up, they should be even better when guys like Purdy, Aiyuk, Kittle and Mustapha return in the coming weeks.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers earn strong grade through first five weeks of the 2025 season