"I haven’t seen him in a month”: Kyle Shanahan gets brutally honest about putting Brandon Aiyuk on reserve/left squad list

Brandon Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the San Francisco 49ers in August 2024 after a contract holdout. The organization placed the receiver on the reserve/left squad list on Sunday.

San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan gave an honest assessment of the Aiyuk situation. The comments came during his press conference following the 49ers' 37-24 victory over Tennessee.

"We haven't seen him in forever," Shanahan said. "That's the decision they make. It's been pretty simple for me. I haven't seen him in a month. It hasn't been an issue with our team at all. We've been plugging away. No big deal. It's something we've been used to for a while."

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Kyle Shanahan on the 49ers putting Brandon Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list: “We haven’t see him in forever. That’s the decision they made. It’s been petty simple for me. I haven’t seen him in a month.”

Aiyuk suffered a knee injury in Week 7 against Kansas City last season and landed on the Physically Unable to Perform list. The receiver reportedly stopped showing up to the facility entirely during his rehab process.

Kyle Shanahan reveals 49ers stopped planning for Brandon Aiyuk months ago

NFL: San Francisco 49ers Training Camp - Source: Imagn

Kyle Shanahan said he gave up on Brandon Aiyuk returning this season almost immediately after the injury.

"We've been playing with our receiver group all year," Shanahan said. "I really have been hoping he would come back all year, but not one point was I really planning on it. That would have been a great bonus. That would have been awesome.

"I would love to have B.A.out there, would love to have that type of player. But that was something I realized early on wasn't going to come for a while and there was nothing that made me sit there and think it was happening soon."

Aiyuk voided $27 million in guaranteed money for next season after skipping mandatory meetings and team activities in the summer. He caught 25 passes for 374 yards in seven games before the injury, collecting approximately $48 million over the last two seasons for that output.

The 49ers (10-4) are third in the NFC West but are just one game back of the Rams and the Seahawks in the division title race.