Brandon Aiyuk suffers gruesome knee injury as 49ers injury woes worsen

The San Francisco 49ers entered their Week 7 Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs already shorthanded. But their injury woes haven't stopped and now wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk appears to be the latest victim to be bitten by the injury bug.

With the 49ers trailing in the first half, Brock Purdy and the 49ers offense were working to try and get some points on the board to close the 14-3 gap. That's when the quarterback found Aiyuk crossing the middle of the field. He made a nice play but, as he tried to make something happen more after the catch, disaster struck.

Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and safety Chamarri Conner both came in to take Aiyuk down, but ultimately sandwiched the wide receiver's knee and caused it to bend completely unnaturally and, frankly, frighteningly. We won't put the video in here but you can see it through this link on X/Twitter due to the graphic nature of the knee injury.

Brandon Aiyuk suffers gruesome knee injury, leaves game

Aiyuk was taken to the blue medical tent immediately after being seen by the training staff on the field. He was then later carted to the locker room before halftime.

The 49ers already came into this matchup without Christian McCaffrey, who has been sidelined essentially for the entire season to this point, but also with wide receiver Jauan Jennings out due to injury and with Deebo Samuel also limited due to an illness. It's a team that can ill afford to have star players going down with injuries more so than they already have, especially after a shocking 3-3 start to the year.

Aiyuk, of course, was the subject of a lengthy offseason holdout and trade saga that ultimately resolved when the 49ers agreed to a four-year, $120 million contract extension with $76 million guaranteed. That ended any trade speculation as he took the field for the 49ers.

Coming into Sunday's game, Aiyuk had totaled 23 receptions for 351 yards on 41 targets through six games, though with no touchdowns to his credit. Though we can't speak to the exact nature of this injury, though, the play itself combined with quickly being taken off the field and carted back to the locker room has fans rightly expecting the worst. We can only hope that all is well for the rising star in San Francisco.

This post will be updated with more information.