Another week of San Francisco 49ers practices will go by without star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who opened the season on the physically unable to perform list after he tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee more than a year ago.
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Head coach Kyle Shanahan said the Niners won’t open the practice window for Aiyuk ahead of their Week 10 matchup against the Rams, suggesting Aiyuk, who suffered the injury Oct. 20, 2024, is still not close to a return. A practice window spans 21 days within which a team must decide to either activate a player to the 53-man roster or add him to the season-ending injured reserve list. Shanahan has maintained for several weeks that Aiyuk’s status remains week-to-week.
The fact that Aiyuk tore more than one major ligament in the same knee meant his recovery was always going to be longer than if his injury was a clean tear to a single ligament. But with Aiyuk’s target return date in limbo, fellow starting wideout Ricky Pearsall’s timetable is also still very much up in the air.
“They couldn’t confirm today he’d be available this week,” Shanahan said. “So we’ll take it day by day.”
Pearsall has not practiced or played since he suffered an injury to his right knee in a Week 4 loss to the Jaguars on Sept. 28. He entered that game with left knee soreness but had yet to miss a game. Although a calf injury forced him to miss the first few practices of training camp, the second-year standout hit the ground running.
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Through the first three weeks of this season, he ranked third in the NFL in yards (281) and was fourth in yards per catch (17.6).
Shanahan said the 49ers initially thought Pearsall had sustained a “minor (posterior cruciate ligament)” injury but has admitted repeatedly in recent weeks that he’s progressed slower than expected.
This article originally published at 49ers still won’t open Aiyuk’s practice window; Pearsall availability remains up in the air.