The San Francisco 49ers aren't expected to have Brandon Aiyuk on the field during training camp or early in the 2025 campaign as he recovers from a torn ACL and MCL suffered last October, but the wideout is on track to play this season.
General manager John Lynch gave a positive update on Aiyuk while visiting The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday.
"Brandon's doing a tremendous job coming back," Lynch said. "These guys that are incredibly skilled athletes, they tend to heal a lot faster. It's kind of incredible how well he's healing, and he's putting in the work. We're proud of Brandon, and we're looking forward to him being part of this team moving forward."
Following last year's contentious contract negotiations, Aiyuk got off to a wobbly start, generating 25 catches for 374 yards and zero touchdowns before suffering the season-ending injury seven weeks into the campaign.
Last offseason's issues, coupled with the injury, have led to talk that the Niners have soured on Aiyuk. Lynch rebutted that notion but did note that all relationships take work.
"Relationship's good," Lynch said. "Brandon's been here. He had a tough injury. Everyone saw that play against Kansas City. It was crushing for us because Brandon's such a big part of who we are. Looking back on the Brandon situation, I think every situation that you go through in life, in football, in this job, it's a learning opportunity. I look at things like that, like, what could we have done differently to have made that a little more seamless?
"Sometimes those things are tough; they can be contentious. There's things that I learned that, yeah, would we have done some things differently? Brandon and I have had these conversations that -- are there things he would have done differently? Absolutely. But one thing, I think, in families, you have little spats, and then you give a big hug at the end, and you work together, and that's where we're at."
The 49ers inked Aiyuk to a four-year, $120 million extension last year just before the start of the 2024 season.
"We made a big investment in him," Lynch said. "We're proud to have him part of our franchise and looking for big things from him. We're gonna let him get right before we get him back on that field, but he's an important part of this team."
The question when we get closer to the season is how much of the campaign Aiyuk will miss -- he's a PUP-list candidate to start the season -- and how long it could take to get his sea legs under him when he does get on the field.
