Brandon Aiyuk was clearly in discomfort due to the shoulder injury he suffered in Sunday’s win against the Rams that limited his snaps and production.
And the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver’s ailment remains painful enough to force him to miss his first game since his rookie season in 2020. Aiyuk is inactive for Thursday night’s meeting with the Giants at Levi’s Stadium, snapping his streak of 36 straight games played. The 49ers have promoted wide receiver receiver Chris Conley from the practice squad.
Without Aiyuk sidelined, wideouts Jauan Jennings and rookie Ronnie Bell will receive more snaps, with Jennings likely starting with wideout Deebo Samuel. The 49ers also promoted cornerback Tre Swilling from the practice squad and released cornerback Anthony Brown, who was signed Tuesday. They elevated Shemar Jean-Charles from the practice squad with cornerback Ambry Thomas (knee) inactive.
The 49ers’ other inactive players are quarterback Brandon Allen, running back Ty Davis-Price, offensive lineman Nick Zakelj, linebacker Jalen Graham and defensive tackle Kalia Davis.
Aiyuk was listed as questionable after he was limited in a light walkthrough practice Tuesday. General manager John Lynch said Wednesday morning that the situation was “very fluid.”
“He clearly got something irritated in his chest/shoulder area,” Lynch said on KNBR. “He’s working really hard to try to get ready. … He’s a warrior. You can see it in his play. He’s having fun because everything is starting to click for him. So I know he’s a guy who doesn’t want to miss. We won’t put him out there if it’s not in his best interest.”
Aiyuk was injured on the game-opening drive against the Rams when his left shoulder was driven into the ground at the end of a 12-yard completion on the sixth snap. After missing two plays, Aiyuk returned and had a 13-yard reception but remained on the ground, grabbing at his upper chest as he was examined by trainers on the field.
After playing seven of the first nine snaps, Aiyuk played just 23 of the game’s final 48 snaps and was not a factor: In that time, he had one catch for 18 yards on four targets.
Aiyuk was coming off a performance that earned him his first NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. He had eight catches on eight targets for 129 yards and two touchdowns in the 49ers’ season-opening win at Pittsburgh.
Oliver’s rise: Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks indicated nickel cornerback Isaiah Oliver’s six-tackle, one-interception performance against the Rams will earn him more playing time.
Oliver, who was signed to a two-year, $6.75 million deal in March, began ceding snaps in the slot midway through training camp.
“I couldn’t be more proud of him and how he stayed the course,” Wilks said. “We moved some things around. He didn’t waver. He didn’t blink. He kept working hard and it paid off for him.”
Oliver, who had two open-field tackles in the second half that ended Rams’ possessions, acknowledged he was unhappy when he began sharing time with Deommodore Lenoir when the 49ers were in their nickel defense.
“Naturally, as a competitor you always will be, I feel like,” Oliver said. “At least I always will be in those types of situations. Trying to just understand, especially with this team, things like that can happen in the sense that we have a lot of good players.”
Said Wilks: “Total class guy. Handled it the right way. That was the first thing I said after the game was that it could have gone differently. Didn’t complain. Just went out each and every day and did his job. And when the opportunity came, he stepped up and made plays.”
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