San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was carted to the locker room after suffering what looked a serious leg injury against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Aiyuk was left in visible pain towards the end of the first half in San Francisco after his right knee appeared to buckle awkwardly under a double tackle from two Chiefs defenders.
As Trent McDuffie tried to take him down from behind, Chamarri Conner flew into the 26-year-old with a strong challenge before he fell to the ground in agony.
He was carted off the field at Levi’s Stadium and was subsequently ruled out of the remainder of Sunday’s game.
After their 28-18 defeat to the Chiefs, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed early indications suggest Aiyuk may have suffered a season-ending torn ACL.
#49ers Brandon Aiyuk gets injured on the play with this nasty hit to his leg.
pic.twitter.com/DOqvN3bPoR— Alex Esquivel (@esquivelalex22) October 20, 2024
Before picking up the injury, Aiyuk had two catches for 23 yards in the Niners’ Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs.
The hosts were also unable to call upon another talented wide receiver on Sunday in Deebo Samuel, who was seen receiving oxygen on the sidelines as he battles an illness.
Kansas City was also dealt an injury setback of its own when JuJu Smith-Schuster was ruled out with a knee injury.
Aiyuk, who signed a $120million, four-year extension in late August following a lengthy contract ‘hold in,’ has 25 catches for 374 yards this season. He was a second-team All-Pro last season when he had 1,342 yards receiving.
San Francisco was already missing No. 3 receiver Jauan Jennings, who was out with a hip injury.
Samuel was reported as sick just before the game and tried to play, only to go back to the locker room after playing only four snaps before being ruled out for the rest of the game.
The Niners at least got a lift from rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall, who was making his NFL debut exactly 50 days after being shot in the chest in San Francisco.
Pearsall was activated from the non-football injury list on Saturday and came in for his first play on the hosts’ opening drive, taking his first career catch late in the second quarter.
His return proved to be especially important with the Niners missing their top receivers after Aiyuk went down late in the first half and Samuel came off while struggling with illness.
