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When is Brandon Aiyuk coming back? Will Brandon Aiyuk play again this season? Read about Brandon Aiyuk's return date and injury updates for 2026.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk hasn't played a snap of professional football since Week 7 of the 2024 season, when he suffered a torn ACL and other ligament damage on a hit against the Kansas City Chiefs defense.
Since then, he's been one of the more interesting players in the NFL to follow, at least among those that aren't on the field. He's put out a variety of social media videos and given us one of the more bizarre storylines of the last few seasons.
We still haven't seen him play this year. But the 49ers are struggling with a ton of injuries at wide receiver now, with WR Ricky Pearsall (knee) out for the season, rookie wideout De'Zhaun Stribling (ankle) out for at least 10 weeks, and veteran wide receiver Mike Evans (hip) missing practices. So when will Aiyuk be back for the 49ers?
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Brandon Aiyuk Injury Update for Fantasy Football
The story goes that Aiyuk simply stopped showing up to San Francisco's facility last season amidst his rehabilitation process. Since then, he's been vocal on social media about his displeasure with the team, and it's caused their relationship to sour beyond the point of no return.
Aiyuk has stated multiple times that he wants to join the Washington Commanders, but that's not really how it works when you have a large, multi-year contract with another team and fail to meet your obligations when recovering from an injury. Thus, Aiyuk remains unsigned currently.
HC Kyle Shanahan went straight to the point when asked if Brandon Aiyuk, sidelined with a severe knee injury since October 2024, is still an option.
(Via @49ers) pic.twitter.com/EZVtjTGqGI
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 21, 2026
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has repeatedly emphasized that his organization has zero interest in bringing Aiyuk back to the team no matter how many injuries their pass-catchers suffer. His scheme is good enough to get third and fourth-string receivers open down the field, anyway.
Regarding Aiyuk's injury, it's been nearly two years since he tore his ACL and MCL and severely damaged his meniscus. He's probably mostly if not fully recovered from that ailment, so that's not the issue here. It appears, though, that teams don't want to deal with his attitude, and are acting accordingly.
Brandon Aiyuk goes off on Instagram
“You want to know why they really mad though? They mad because they stupid. They dumb. They mad they paid me $50 million in 8 months and then voided my guarantees for 2027. I’m about to be on a new team in 2027. They mad at themselves for… pic.twitter.com/Y96Aum2XRz
— Hailmarypass (@Hailmarypass_) June 9, 2026
The fact that teams haven't made an attempt to sign him, even those that are desperate for more talent at WR, is telling.
Brandon Aiyuk Fantasy Football Outlook
Right now, there is no indication that he'll return to play for the 49ers or play for any other team in 2027, despite his opinion on the matter. It's likely that teams view him as a locker room issue, and see any benefit of having him on the field as outweighed by the downside of having him around their other team members.
Aiyuk played like one of the best wideouts in football in 2023, so if something changes, he would immediately be a priority waiver pickup. Generally, though, we don't see receivers doing very well on teams that they join mid-season.
Brandon Aiyuk is back to running nasty routes 😮
📺: #SFvsPIT on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/G4uoYVOqQn pic.twitter.com/uvYRoJhivU— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2023
His best skill is his route-running prowess. He was one of the best separators in football in his prime, and got open with regularity. He also has good hands. He's not a demon after the catch, but he is competent, though that's more of a nice-to-have than anything.
For now, managers should leave him on the waiver wire.
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Week 3 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Mike Evans, Jadarian Price, Josh Downs. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 3.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 3 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 3 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 3 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 3 for Mike Evans, Jadarian Price, Josh Downs:
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