Kyle Shanahan ‘pretty confident’ that Brandon Aiyuk will play in 2025

The San Francisco 49ers have gone through a gauntlet of injuries to begin the 2025 season, but they could get a key piece back for the stretch run.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan met with reporters this week to share an update on wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who is currently working his way back from a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee that was suffered in October of last season.

While San Francisco is unlikely to open Aiyuk’s practice window this week, Shanahan shared optimism that the wide receiver will suit up for a game in 2025.

Here are 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s comments on Aiyuk, QB Brock Purdy (toe), and much more.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan | November 5, 2025

Opening comments: 

“Injuries for practice today. [WR] Ricky Pearsall, knee, will not practice. [LB] Dee Winters, knee, limited. [OL Jake] Brendel, hamstring, limited. [LB] Tatum [Bethune], thigh, limited. [DL] Bryce Huff, hamstring, limited. [QB] Brock Purdy, toe, limited. Go ahead.”

Is there a setback with Pearsall? What is his status right now? 

“Just the same as what I said last week. No setback. Just taking longer to heal than we thought.”

As far as WR Brandon Aiyuk, are you confident that he’s going to play this year or is there a possibility that he doesn’t ever get that window open and doesn’t play? 

“I mean, I’m pretty confident that he is going to eventually. At least open up his practice window. We talk about it being week-to-week right now, so still waiting until he is ready.”

Is it a matter of him hitting these marks, the GPS stuff, the speed stuff, those types of things, the very technical things at his point? 

“Yes.”

You didn’t mention OL Ben Bartch. Would your plan be, if he’s healthy, to just slot him right back in as a starter? 

“We’ll see how the week goes. It depends how he looks. Thought [OL Spencer] Spence [Burford] did a real good job last week. But, he is not limited today, he’s full-go, so gives him a better chance, but we’ll see how the week plays out.”

What kind of setback did DL Yetur Gross-Matos have and is there a chance he’ll be back this year or is it bad enough that he can’t? 

“No, he pulled his hamstring. But yeah, he’ll be back. “

What have your thoughts been on WR Jordan Watkins the last two games? What have you seen from him and then how does it help out with the injuries of the wide receivers? 

“He’s gotten up and got his opportunity because of the injuries. So, that’s why he has been up the last two weeks. I thought he had a big play last week on the second-and-12 that we went to him on and just getting better each week and waiting for more opportunities.”

Do you see yourself giving Brock Purdy more first-team reps this week?

“Yeah, I’d like to. Yeah, we plan on pushing it each week.”

One rookie we haven’t seen yet is RB Jordan James. How’s he doing in practice and was the plan to sort of redshirt him this year if the veterans ahead of him stay healthy or could he work his way onto the field? 

“No, I think he could work his way onto the field. I think it’s tough. The plan wasn’t to originally, but hurt his knee I think his first practice, came back two weeks later broke his pinky, then missed all that. So, he missed an entire training camp and came back I think in Week 2. Once he did, we’d already traded for [RB] Brian [Robinson Jr.]. We have [RB] Isaac [Guerendo] with our special teams role and the pass game. I think Jordan’s been getting more reps in practice and doing a good job. Hopefully we’ll be able to get him up sometime this year.”

You were fairly candid before the trade deadline about what you guys were looking for and your approach. But, I think a lot of fans, when you don’t make any other move besides DL Keion White, view that as some sort of a white flag on the season. How would you respond to the fact that you didn’t make a significant move and how it reflects on how you view this year’s team? 

“I don’t think it has to do with how we viewed this year’s team. I think we worked just as hard this year to make a trade that made sense for our team this year and next year, just as hard as we do every year. There are a lot of teams with records like 6-3 or better that didn’t make any big trade. Just because you make a big trade doesn’t mean it’s always a smart move.

“There’s a lot of risk that goes into it, not just for this year, but throughout your whole future. I was excited we were able to make one that we felt really good about last week and getting Keion. I know we looked into a ton of them, but the asking price was too much on all of them.”

More 49ers content from Sactown Sports

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is expected to play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers despite a rib injury, Rams coach Sean McVay said on Wednesday.

Nacua, 24, will be limited at practice on Wednesday, but after his rib imaging came back clean, he should play on Sunday, the coach said. The 49ers (6-3) host the Rams (6-2) in a tight race in the NFC West.

McVay had said after the 34-10 home win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday that Nacua’s injury wasn’t serious.

Rams expect WR Puka Nacua (rib) to play vs. 49ers

Upcoming San Francisco 49ers Schedule

• Sunday, November 9th – vs. Los Angeles Rams – 1:25 PM PT
• Sunday, November 16th – @ Arizona Cardinals – 1:05 PM PT
• Monday, November 24th – vs. Carolina Panthers – 5:15 PM PT
• Sunday, November 30th – @ Cleveland Browns – 10:00 AM PT
• Sunday, December 7th – BYE WEEK

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