Thursday Night Football: Niners WR Brandon Aiyuk (shoulder) out vs. Giants
The San Francisco 49ers will be facing the New York Giants without their top receiver on "Thursday Night Football."
Niners standout wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is inactive Thursday due to a shoulder injury, the team announced ahead of the game. Aiyuk was initially listed as questionable after missing practice on Monday and being a limited participant on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A key part of the NFL's most stacked group of weapons, Aiyuk opened the season with an eight-catch, 129-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, then hauled in three catches for 43 yards against the Los Angeles Rams last week.
The injury appeared to come in the first quarter of Week 2, when Aiyuk landed awkwardly on the shoulder after a third-down catch. He remained in the game after the catch, but did not appear at all in the fourth quarter.
Aiyuk, the 25th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, ranks behind only Christian McCaffrey in yards from scrimmage on the Niners through two games. He is coming off a breakout 1,015-yard performance last season.
Outside of Aiyuk, the only Niners wide receivers to record a target this season are Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings. George Kittle could also see an uptick in usage, or the Niners could just lean on the ground game against a Giants team they are heavily favored against.
The Niners are currently a 10.5-point favorite on BetMGM against the Giants, who are missing Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley and All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas.
