The San Francisco 49ers’ offense has been strong in recent seasons because of the many talented playmakers, making it hard to defend against all their options.
However, a series of injuries has changed that situation, leaving the 49ers with few reliable targets for Brock Purdy to throw to in the second half of Sunday’s 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Star receiver Brandon Aiyuk suffered a serious knee injury late in the first half, which was confirmed on Monday to be a torn ACL and MCL, putting him out for the rest of the season.
Deebo Samuel had already left the game due to illness, No. 3 receiver Jauan Jennings was out with a hip injury, and All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey has missed the entire season because of Achilles tendinitis, taking away Purdy’s best option for short passes.
This left Purdy to throw to All-Pro tight end George Kittle and four wide receivers who had only two combined catches this season.
“We had to mix a lot of stuff around there in the second quarter and halftime, or mainly halftime, and those guys were in spots they didn’t get reps at,” coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday.
“For the most part, they didn’t make too many mistakes and gave us a chance to get back in the game and win. Hopefully, we can build off of that.”
The 49ers (3-4) will try to improve after a rough start to the season with the help of rookies Rickey Pearsall and Jacob Cowing, along with lesser-used veterans Chris Conley and Ronnie Bell.
“Kyle is going to have to scheme some stuff up,” Kittle said. “The nice thing is we still have Jauan Jennings, me, (fullback Kyle Juszczyk), Deebo. We still have guys all over our roster that can make plays.”
San Francisco may consider making a move before the trade deadline on Nov. 5 to strengthen a roster that has been hit hard by injuries this season.
“It makes you look into everything,” Shanahan said. “We try to look into everything regardless. Obviously, with more issues that came up yesterday, you still want to look into everything, but it has to do with what options are out there that we can pursue without causing too much harm, that helps us now and doesn’t hurt us for the future.”
