49ers unlikely to promote practice squad WR amid injuries

Share

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers came out of their 24-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals with only three healthy wide receivers, but coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t ready to jump the gun and promote a practice squad member yet. 

Shanahan knew he would be without Deebo Samuel and rookie Brandon Aiyuk on Sunday, but losing Richie James in the middle of the contest was unexpected. The health of James, who has been the team’s primary kickoff returner, might change the head coach’s mind. 

Jimmy Garoppolo completed only two of his four attempts to wide receivers for 20 yards, in a challenging outing for the 49ers offense. Shanahan doesn’t blame the receivers for the lack of production but rather is hoping the health of the group improves. 

“It all depends on how Richie ends up checking out tomorrow,” Shanahan said on Sunday. “How Aiyuk is, whether he has possibility to come back. I know he’ll have the chance to next week because I think he got pretty close this week. So, we'll see.” 

Aiyuk was able to practice twice leading up to the 49ers' first game but the team’s player performance staff has been very conservative with injured players. The rookie also did not have the advantage of minicamp or OTAs to assist his acclimation to the NFL. 

Shanahan did mention Monday that he was "concerned" about James' injury, but said he expects Aiyuk to return for Week 2 vs. the Jets.

The 49ers have three wide receivers on their practice squad, Kevin White, River Cracraft and rookie Jauan Jennings. With their limited experience in Shanahan’s system, the head coach seems more apt to lean on Kendrick Bourne, Trent Taylor and Dante Pettis. 

Throughout the offseason, Shanahan has asked his receivers group to step up and while his expectations for them are high, he doesn’t put Sunday’s loss on their shoulders. 

“I don't think those guys did play bad today,” Shanahan said. “I'll watch the tape on them, but there was a couple of opportunities that they did have. We didn't do very good as a whole offense. 
 
“The game plan wasn't going to those guys much knowing how light we were going into the game, but obviously got to get better at every spot, but this game isn't put on the receivers at all.”

RELATED: Shanahan says 49ers will look into signing Sanu

The 49ers' offense will need to regroup as they prepare for a two-game road trip to New York and Shanahan will remain hopeful that Aiyuk and James will be part of that plan. 

Contact Us