Resilient Brandon Aiyuk emerges as leader at 49ers training camp
SANTA CLARA (CBS SF) -- There were times last season when San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk's NFL career was in question.
Did he have what it takes to emerge as a key weapon in the 49ers offensive arsenal?
As the season unfolded there were tough discussions with the coaching staff. Instead of becoming disgruntled, the former Arizona State star worked even harder and made himself an impact player.
"Brandon, instead of blaming other people and making excuses, he worked, didn't say a lot, just kept going to work," head coach Kyle Shanahan said on the first day of practice. "And he's a smart dude and he is perceptive and he learned."
Timing also played a role in Aiyuk's struggles. He's first two years were overshadowed by COVID and all the restrictions that came with the pandemic.
"You have to go through experiences to learn stuff," Shanahan said. "People can tell you everything they want, but you don't really know until you go through it. And I think that was the cool thing hearing from Brandon because his rookie season was COVID year. And so he didn't have anything in the offseason. He just showed up here and we didn't even know until about two weeks before he showed up whether we were having a season or not, so he was a little behind and then training camp was kind of a joke for the whole league."
"And so the season was kind of weird and then we had so many people get hurt and he had to play a ton, but that's all he knew with NFL," he continued. "So his experience is man, I just kind of showed up and I started all year and people say I'm going be one of the best guys next year. And he does have that ability, but he thought that was NFL. And the next offseason COVID still, we didn't have the right rules. And he didn't know he had to do anything until camp, so he just came a little behind. And he was like, 'oh man, this camp's tougher than last year.' It's like yeah, last year wasn't camp. And then you get into the season and it's man, this is different."
During this offseason, Aiyuk spent time working out with Trey Lance, who is expected to be the 49ers starting quarterback this year.
"Some guys just hang around the quarterback, so people write articles about it and they can get brownie points, but that's not Aiyuk's style," Shanahan said. "I liked where he was before he left and the fact that he was with Trey for so long makes a lot of sense, because he seems pretty determined."
And there is no more important bond on a team than between a receiver and quarterback.
"The tighter people are at any position, the tighter your team is," Shanahan said. "It's always an advantage, but especially at receiver. Every position depends on everyone else, but when those guys can react to stuff the same and it's nice to be tight, but you also have to get those reps on the field together too."
