Why isn’t Brandon Aiyuk playing for the 49ers against the Seahawks in Week 1?
As they bid to make a winning start to the 2025 season, the San Francisco 49ers must do without wide receiver Aiyuk.
Long-term injury victim Brandon Aiyuk remains unavailable to the 49ers, as San Francisco begins its bid to return to the NFL playoffs.
The 49ers take on the Seattle Seahawks in their 2025 season opener this weekend, after a 2024 campaign in which Kyle Shanahan’s men missed the postseason for the first time since 2020, posting a 6-11 record.
Sights on Seattle 👀@ShoePalace | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/DuoizFflYJ
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 6, 2025
What injury does Aiyuk have and when could he return?
Wide receiver Aiyuk, who earned an All-Pro second-team selection during the 49ers’ run to the Super Bowl in 2023, sat out much of last season after suffering a serious injury in Week 7.
In last October’s defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, the 27-year-old tore the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his right knee. He is now continuing his rehabilitation, ahead of a potential return later this autumn.
During the off-season, Aiyuk was placed on San Francisco’s ‘physically unable to perform’ (PUP) list, automatically ruling him out of at least the team’s first four games of the 2025 season.
Speaking to reporters last month, Shanahan struck a cautious tone as he anticipated an Aiyuk comeback sometime around the midway point of the upcoming regular season.
“Could be Week 10, could be Week 5″
Asked about Aiyuk’s recovery, and the fitness of fellow absentees Malik Mustapha and Kurtis Rourke, Shanahan said: “I always see them [returning] around Week 6, which means that could be Week 10, means it could be Week 5, but that’s the area where I start thinking about it, which is a long way away.
“I know it’s not Week 1 or anything like that, so it’s something I’m not really thinking about too much.”
49ers vs Seahawks: when, where, how to watch
The 49ers, who are sweating on the availability of star running back Christian McCaffrey, take on the Seahawks on Sunday, September 7, with kick-off scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET/1:05 p.m. PT.
Viewers in the U.S. can watch the action at Lumen Field live on Fox. You can stream Fox’s coverage on fubo, which offers a free trial.
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