Getty Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers.
The San Francisco 49ers were holding out hope they might get some mid-season offensive help coming off the injured reserve list, but those hopes were dashed on Monday.
Wide receiver Jalen Hurd appeared in just one preseason game for the Niners this year, which is likely to be his only on-field action for the rest of the 2021 campaign.
The news was first published online Monday, November 8 by Ari Meirov of Pro Football Focus.
#49ers WR Jalen Hurd (knee) is unlikely to play this season, per Kyle Shanahan. The former third-round pick out of Baylor has not played in a regular season game in his three years in the NFL.
Shanahan Not Hopeful About Hurd’s Status
GettySan Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jalen Hurd in a 2019 preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan elaborated on Hurd’s status during a conference call with reporters Monday.
“I don’t think we’ve made any announcements or deciding for sure, but I’m not expecting him to come back this year,” Shanahan said. “We tried to give him some rest because things keep happening and it’s not getting better. We have all these timelines on it and we’re not meeting those deadlines, so it’s not healing the way that we want. I don’t know for sure, but just looking at how it’s gone, I don’t think it’s going to heal fast enough this year for him to help us.”
The team’s tune has slowly gotten less bullish on Hurd as the year has progressed. As Meirov noted in his tweet, Hurd has yet to play a single regular season snap for the 49ers since being drafted the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
He suffered a broken bone in his back before his rookie year, which sidelined him for that entire season. Hurd then dealt with torn ACL during the preseason the following year. The wideout was up and down throughout the Niners’ offseason and preseason activities in 2021, appearing against the Las Vegas Raiders during the team’s final preseason game. He has not appeared on the practice field since that time.
Shanahan and company attempted to put some pressure on Hurd in the weeks leading up to San Francisco’s September 12 season opener against the Detroit Lions, implying that the wide receiver may not make the 53-man roster should he be unable to contribute.
That proved not to be the case, as Hurd remained part of the team but was placed on IR in early September. Whether the Niners will pursue a fourth season for Hurd is unclear, but Monday’s news certainly damages chances of the talented, but injury-prone, wideout.
Niners WR Brandon Aiyuk Had Breakout Game in Week 9
GettyBrandon Aiyuk #11, of the San Francisco 49ers, leaps over Marcus Epps #22, of the Philadelphia Eagles, during a game in 2020.
It hasn’t been all bad news for the Niners at wide receiver this week, as Brandon Aiyuk appears to be powering his way through a sophomore slump that plagued him throughout the first half of the season.
After being put in the doghouse following non-productive outings to start the year, during which the young wideout all but disappeared, Aiyuk has put together his two best efforts of the season in the Niners’ last two games.
Aiyuk caught 4 passes for 45 yards against the Chicago Bears on October 31 — a modest performance, to be sure, but also the 23-year-old’s best of the year to that point. Against the Arizona Cardinals last week, Aiyuk returned to rookie form catching 6 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown, per ESPN.
Wideout Deebo Samuel is having the best season of his career and threatening to earn a trip to the Pro Bowl for the first time. If Aiyuk can continue his progression, the Niners have a chance to field a formidable tandem at WR down the stretch of the season — something the team could desperately use, as the Niners are currently 3-5 and sitting in a tie for last place in the NFC West Division.