Brandon Aiyuk's Status for 49ers vs. Giants Is 'Very Fluid' After Injury, Lynch Says

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch told Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey of KNBR that wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk may be available for Thursday's game against the New York Giants despite a shoulder injury.

Lynch said the situation is "very fluid" and that "he's working really hard to try and get ready. With these Thursday night games you take it all the way down [to kickoff]."

Aiyuk, 25, had a solid rookie season for the Niners in 2020, catching 60 passes for 748 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for two more scores. While the 2020 first-round pick missed four games between injuries and COVID-19 protocols, he showed his upside in his first campaign, giving the Niners a young player to be excited about.

Even NFL legend Jerry Rice had nice things to say about Aiyuk during his rookie campaign.

"He's going to get much better," Rice told ESPN's Nick Wagoner in Nov. 2020. "I think, as he gets older, he's going to continue to develop, and I'm expecting big things from him, to be honest with you. Because I think he has everything where he's got the route running, where he's got the hands, that awareness on the football field, and he's one of those guys that he knows he's a playmaker and that he could put points on the board at any time."

But Aiyuk struggled at times in 2021 and was even benched at one point. He finished with 56 receptions for 826 yards and five scores. The young wideout said during that season that he needed to develop better practice habits.

"I came in, I was a Day 1 starter (as a rookie), didn't practice last year the way they wanted me to practice," he told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami in Nov. 2021. "Didn't do a lot of things that they wanted me to do last year. (But) we didn't have a lot of people. We were hurt at receiver. So I was kind of forced to play. Now it's kind of turning back the time and learning those things that I could've been doing... that were missed last year."

He turned a corner in 2022, catching 78 passes for 1,015 yards and eight scores while playing in every game.

In Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, the Niners have a dangerous pair of wideouts for quarterback Brock Purdy. Add in star tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey and the Niners have a frightening suite of playmakers.

But the offense loses a lot of versatility and explosiveness without Aiyuk in the fold, so his status will be key for Thursday's game.