Kyle Shanahan finally breaks silence on Brandon Aiyuk’s injury — and the 49ers’ timeline will surprise fans.QQ

The San Francisco 49ers provided a huge injury update on wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on Friday.

According to Matt Barrows of The Athletic, head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that the team is hoping to open Aiyuk’s 21-day practice window next week.

However, Shanahan cautioned that the team is still “week to week” when it comes to opening said window, so he didn’t guarantee Aiyuk would return to practice ahead of the team’s Week 9 contest.

“Kyle Shanahan said the team could open Brandon Aiyuk’s (ACL) practice window next week. He said that we are in ‘week to week’ territory for opening that practice window,” Barrows reported.

Of course, Aiyuk has been recovering from the torn ACL and MCL he suffered last season, which has kept him on the physically unable to perform list since the offseason.

Once the 49ers open his window, the team will have 21 days to activate him to the 53-man roster or else he must miss the rest of the season.

If the 49ers open Aiyuk’s practice window next week (it would probably happen on Wednesday, Oct. 29), returning anywhere from Week 9 to 12 would be in play, although it’s likely he’d make his return to the field on the longer end of the timeline considering how long he has been out.

If Aiyuk can even come close to returning to form, it would be a huge boost for a Niners wide receivers room that has been riddled with injuries this season.

Jauan Jennings is playing through a laundry list of issues and Ricky Pearsall is set to miss his fourth straight game after he was ruled out on Friday.