49ers: Brandon Aiyuk injures hamstring in Sunday’s practice

San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk injured his hamstring in Sunday’s practice.

The San Francisco 49ers have been dealing with an unprecedented number of injuries at the wide receiver position. And on Sunday, that number grew even larger following the addition of Brandon Aiyuk to the injury report.

Aiyuk was reportedly injured in the middle of practice on Sunday when he pulled up running a deep route down the right sideline. He did not return and, at the time of writing, there has been no word on his status.

This is obviously a major blow to a 49ers team that has dealt with multiple injuries at the wide receiver position. Combine those injuries with Travis Benjamin’s decision to opt-out and you have a very thin receiving corps.

Deebo Samuel may very well miss the first couple of weeks of the 2020 season. Richie James is still rehabbing a broken wrist. And Jalen Hurd will miss his second consecutive season with a torn ACL suffered last week.

The 49ers’ receiving corps look even thinner without Brandon Aiyuk.

Brandon Aiyuk was one of the few bright spots in a beaten-down position group. To date, the first-round pick and veteran Kendrick Bourne have been the most impressive in camp emerging as the 49ers’ top two receivers with Samuel out.

Trent Taylor is also picking up where he left off two years ago in the slot, but it’s been Aiyuk’s versatility that has made him stand out the most.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan has shifted the speedy rookie around a ton playing him at both outside receiver spots as well as in the slot. Aiyuk has also been competing for the kick returner job and a role on special teams.

Unfortunately, any progress he’s made might be sidetracked now.

Hamstring injuries can be very tricky and although some don’t result in very much time lost, others can linger for weeks or even months. For the 49ers’ sake, they’ll certainly be hoping for the former.

In the meantime, the likes of Dante Pettis, Tavon Austin, J.J. Nelson, and Jauan Jennings — among others — will need to step up in the absence of numerous receivers.

Here’s to hoping that Aiyuk’s injury isn’t severe and that he returns to the gridiron as soon as possible.