Okay, so the big question floating around my head, and probably yours too if you follow the Niners or have him on your fantasy team, was about Brandon Aiyuk for Week 4. Is he gonna play or sit this one out again?
Naturally, the first thing I did was jump onto the usual sports news sites. You know the drill, ESPN, *, the local Bay Area sports pages. I started digging around for any official updates from the team itself. They usually put out injury reports, so that was my primary target.
Early in the week, things looked a bit murky. Remember he missed Week 3 with that shoulder thing? Yeah, that AC joint sprain he picked up against the Rams. So, my initial searches brought up a lot of “questionable” and “wait and see” kind of language. Not super helpful, but expected.
Then, I started tracking the practice reports. This is usually where you get the real clues.
- Did he practice on Wednesday? Limited? Full? DNP (Did Not Practice)?
- Same thing for Thursday. Any upgrade or downgrade?
- And Friday’s practice status is often the biggest tell.
I kept refreshing those reports. Saw he got in some limited practices. That felt like a good sign, definitely better than him not being out there at all. Limited usually means they’re testing it out, seeing how the body responds.
Checking the Insiders
Alongside the official stuff, I always check out what the beat reporters are saying. Guys like Rapoport, Schefter, and the local journalists covering the 49ers often drop little nuggets of info based on their sources. I scrolled through Twitter, searched their names with “Aiyuk.” Found some chatter about him looking decent in the parts of practice open to the media, but still no guarantees.
Coach Shanahan’s press conferences were the next stop. I looked for transcripts or video clips. Coaches can be cagey, but sometimes you can read between the lines. He sounded cautiously optimistic, mentioning Aiyuk was making progress. Still, no definitive “yes, he’s playing.” They always like to keep opponents guessing, right?
So, as the week went on, the signs pointed towards likely playing, especially after he practiced, even limitedly. He wasn’t immediately ruled out, which was key. Usually, if it’s bad, they shut ’em down early.
The Final Status
Finally, the official game status report dropped late Friday or sometimes Saturday. That’s the moment of truth. I checked that as soon as it was available. And bingo, he wasn’t listed with an injury designation for the game against the Cardinals. That means the team expected him to be good to go.
So, after going through the whole routine – checking official reports, tracking practices, reading the insider buzz, and listening to the coach – the process led me to believe he was going to be active for Week 4. It’s never 100% until kickoff, weird things happen, but all the breadcrumbs I followed through the week pointed to Aiyuk being back on the field.
