What happened to Brandon Aiyuk? 49ers WR suffers gruesome leg injury, gets carted off the field vs Chiefs

Brandon Aiyuk suffered a serious-looking injury while playing for the 49ers against the Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch on the West Coast. Both teams were missing offensive weapons. Kansas City had Isiah Pacheco, Hollywood Brown, and Rashee Rice as long-term absentees, and JuJu Smith-Schuster and Xavier Worthy had some issues during the game.

San Francisco was already missing Jauan Jennings in this match, in addition to Christian McCaffrey who has not played this NFL season. Deebo Samuel suited up but was battling an illness, which meant that he took just a few snaps before leaving the field. The latest addition to that injury list was Brandon Aiyuk.

The 49ers had struggled to maintain offensive possession throughout the first half of the game and got a drive going during the two-minute warning. With less than a minute left, Brock Purdy threw to the wide receiver in the middle of the field. He was tackled by a couple of Chiefs players and it was immediately clear that there was something wrong with him. On replay, it looked like his right knee was hyperextended backward.

While Brandon Aiyuk went into the medical tent on his own, he was eventually carted off the field to the locker room. It looks unlikely that he will return to this game and his spell on the sidelines could unfortunately end up being significant.

As Brandon Aiyuk leaves field against Chiefs, 49ers find Ricky Pearsall

Brandon Aiyuk's injury overshadowed a strong finish to the half by the 49ers. They had struggled throughout until then, but a couple of big plays allowed them to score a field goal with time expiring. Brock Purdy connected with George Kittle on a long throw during that drive but the biggest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for Ricky Pearsall.

The rookie wide receiver was taken in the first round of this year's NFL draft. However, he had not featured until now as he was injured in a shooting incident before the regular season began. He was lucky to be alive, let alone playing. So, when he got his first-ever career reception on that drive towards the end of the first half, the entire stadium stood to applaud him.

When Brandon Aiyuk held off during the offseason for a new contract, Ricky Pearsall was widely discussed as the heir apparent. Now that the former is expected to be out for some time, the rookie might need to step up and fulfill that promise.