For the second straight week, one of Brock Purdy’s pass-catchers was carted to the locker room after Demarcus Robinson sprained his ankle in the first half of their 35-13 win Sunday over the Miami Dolphins.
asserted
Robinson → cart → Dolphins
They lost rookie standout De’Zhaun Stribling and tight end Jake Tonges in Week 1, and Ricky Pearsall already underwent season-ending surgery.
asserted
Pearsall → lose → surgery
But they’re not that desperate.
asserted
they → ’re → ?
“No,” Kyle Shanahan smirked — Brandon Aiyuk is not an option they are considering.
asserted
they → smirk → ?
Even Mike Evans departed with a hip issue in the second half and didn’t return, but Shanahan wasn’t overly concerned about the 33-year-old.
asserted
Shanahan → depart → old
“If the game was different,” Shanahan said, “he would’ve been able to come back in.”
asserted
he → say → ?
Robinson, on the other hand, is expected to miss some time.
asserted
Robinson → expect → time
Shanahan termed his ailment a high ankle sprain, and those typically come with several weeks of rehab and recovery.
asserted
those → term → rehab
He was the 49ers’ leading receiver when he went down and had quietly turned into one of Purdy’s most trusted targets, hauling in 84 yards and a long touchdown in a game and a half.
asserted
he → go → game
Stribling had surgery to repair the deltoid ligament in his ankle and is expected to miss about 10 weeks.
asserted
Stribling → strible → weeks
Tonges, who caught five touchdowns last season, tore his MCL and will miss the rest of the season, just like Pearsall, who hasn’t had a healthy season since he was drafted in 2024.
asserted
he → catch → 2024
“These are all extremely great playmakers that looking at our roster in OTAs and camp, it’s like, ‘Oh shoot, we can do some damage.’
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we → look → damage
And then Ricky goes down, Stribling, and now D-Rob,” Purdy said.
asserted
Purdy → go → ?
“It sucks because those are my guys and those are our playmakers and for them to go down early in the season like that is tough.”
asserted
go → suck → that
The Niners still have no shortage of playmakers — Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Evans to name a few future Hall-of-Famers — and it didn’t seem to matter who was on the receiving end of Purdy’s near-perfect passing day against the Dolphins.
asserted
who → have → Dolphins
But a team can only withstand so many losses at a single position.
asserted
team → withstand → position
And the 49ers aren’t getting any help from within, at least not in the immediate future.
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49ers → get → future
Free agent addition Christian Kirk, who missed almost all of training camp, isn’t eligible to be activated until Week 5.
asserted
who → miss → Week
They also have Jordan Watkins, but he was left off the active roster against the Dolphins, even already missing Stribling, Pearsall and Kirk.
asserted
he → have → Stribling
“I’m sure we’ll have to add somebody, whether it’s the practice squad or to the roster,” Shanahan said.
asserted
Shanahan → ’m → roster
”Hopefully [we’ll] have an answer by Wednesday.”
asserted
we → have → Wednesday
Aiyuk, technically, is still a member of the 49ers, though he’s not on their payroll.
asserted
he → ’ → payroll
The troubled former top receiver had his salary voided and remains on the reserve/left squad list but has not applied for reinstatement with the NFL and has not indicated any plans to do so.
asserted
salary → have → plans
As for realistic options, there are handful of notable names available on the free-agent market — Tyreek Hill, Darius Slayton, Brandin Cooks — and general manager John Lynch has never shied away from making a splashy in-season trade (see: McCaffrey, Christian).
asserted
Lynch → be → Christian
But Shanahan also tends to have his guys.
asserted
Shanahan → tend → guys
In a system as finely tuned as the 49ers, fit and familiarity matter more than raw talent or name recognition.
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fit → matter → talent
To that end, it’s almost a surprise the 49ers made it to Monday morning without bringing back Malik Turner, who didn’t make the cut after training camp and remains unsigned.
asserted
who → ’ → camp
Trenton Irwin also falls into that category.
asserted
Irwin → fall → category
A couple former 49ers are also on the market in Ray-Ray McCloud, who played for Shanahan from 2022-23, and River Cracraft, who also played two seasons from 2020-21.
asserted
who → play → 2020
The 49ers preach next man up, and Purdy praised the fill-in efforts of Cowing and Hodge, but eventually there’s only so much help in-house options can provide.
asserted
options → preach → house
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