The San Francisco 49ers are dealing with some devastating early-season injuries. Immediately after their Week 1 win over the New York Jets, the 49ers placed reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve.
McCaffrey is dealing with injuries to both his calf and Achilles. San Francisco is right to play it safe with the star running back due to the potential of a season-ending injury if he’s rushed back.
While McCaffrey has to miss a minimum of four games, the expectation is that he could be out longer. In fact, a return to action might not come until after the 49ers’ Week 9 bye.
Adding injury to insult (almost literally), San Francisco went into Minneapolis and put up a stinker of a performance in its latest road loss to the Vikings. Remember, this squad has not won in Minnesota since all the way back in 1992.
The backdrop here is star wide receiver Deebo Samuel suffering a calf strain in the loss. San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Monday that Samuel will miss a couple weeks of action.
“He told me he thinks he did it when he caught, I think it was the third to last play,” Shanahan said, via the 49ers’ official website.
“They had a blitz down in the red zone. He caught the hot route breaking in. He says he thinks he did it on that play.”
San Francisco is now set to visit the injury-plagued Los Angeles Rams this coming week before a September 29 home date with the New England Patriots. Samuel and McCaffrey will each miss both games.
This clearly places more of an onus on quarterback Brock Purdy after two so-so efforts to open the season.
Others are going to have to step up in their stead. After all, we’re talking about two players who combined for 3,040 total yards and 33 touchdowns a season ago.
It’s going to be more of a team-wide effort to replace those two.
Former undrafted free agent Jordan Mason has more than done his part with McCaffrey sidelined. He tallied consecutive 100-yard games and has put up 247 yards at a clip of 5.1 yards per rush during that span.
However, Mason needs to be more involved in the passing game. He’s tallied five receptions for 40 yards in two games. With both McCaffrey and Samuel playing big roles in the passing game, someone is going to have to step up. The first thought is obviously Mason out of the backfield.
Then again, Purdy’s inability to find him open in the flat through the first two games has also been an issue. Clearly, he doesn’t have the same connection with Mason as he does with McCaffrey. With Mason doing his part, it’s time for Purdy to step up in this regard.
Last season saw Purdy complete 71 percent of his passes for a whopping 124.0 QB rating when targeting Aiyuk. That has not been anywhere near the case through two weeks. Aiyuk has hauled in a mere 6-of-10 targets for 71 yards.
The obvious backdrop here was Aiyuk missing all of training camp and the preseason as he angled for a new deal. While something got done in the form of a four-year, $120 million extension, it’s clear that Aiyuk missing time has impacted his relationship with Purdy.
“I think B.A. looks 100-percent,” Shanahan told reporters on Monday.
“I think what he meant is he is playing about 85 percent of what he usually plays. But just in terms of him running stuff and health, he’s 100 percent, he just, I think he’s getting like 85 percent of playing time.”
Aiyuk played 60 percent of the 49ers’ snaps in Week 1 before that number grew to 87 percent this past Sunday against the Vikings. He’ll clearly be closer to 100 percent in that regard against the Rams. It’s now time for the high-priced All-Pro to see his production increase big time.
It’s no secret that part of Purdy’s early-career success has had to do with the skill-position talent surrounding him. Shanahan’s play calling has also played a major role in that.
But let’s not ignore the fact that Purdy’s performance can also be attributed to a skill-set most teams didn’t see before he was the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
It’s now high time for Purdy to prove these naysayers wrong. In addition to Aiyuk, that includes finding connections with tight end George Kittle and underrated wide receiver Jauan Jennings.
He also can’t make the same mistakes we saw against Minnesota (interception, lost fumble). The margin for error is not as great with both McCaffrey and Samuel sidelined.
San Francisco takes on an injury-plagued Rams team on Sunday that will be without a combined eight starters on both sides of the ball. That includes multiple starters in the defensive secondary.
The opportunity is here for Purdy to overcome pedestrian early-season play and perform at a high level. Should that not happen, the 49ers will continue to have a lot more questions than answers.
