Brandon Aiyuk suffers a horrific knee injury as the 49ers' injury problems worsen

The San Francisco 49ers entered their Super Bowl rematch in Week 7 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 worked to put some points on the board to close the deficit to 14-3. At that moment, the quarterback found Aiyuk crossing the middle of the field. He made a good play, but when he tried to make more moves after the catch, disaster struck.

Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and safety Chamarri Conner both came in to take Aiyuk down, but ended up crushing the wide receiver's knee and making it feel completely unnatural and, frankly, scary bowed. We won't post the video here, but you can watch it via this link on X/Twitter due to the graphic nature of the knee injury.

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

The 49ers went into this duel without Christian McCaffrey, who had essentially had to sit out the entire season up to this point, but also with the loss of wide receiver Jauan Jennings due to injury and Deebo Samuel, who was also limited due to illness. It's a team that can ill afford to have star players suffer any more injuries than they already have, especially after a shocking 3-3 start to the year.

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

Prior to Sunday's game, Aiyuk had totaled 23 receptions for 351 yards on 41 targets in six games, although no touchdowns. While we can't say anything about the exact nature of this injury, the game itself and the fact that he was quickly taken off the pitch and carried back to the dressing room have fans rightly expecting the worst. We can only hope that everything is going well for the rising star in San Francisco.

This post will be updated with more information.