Jerry Rice offers 49ers star Brandon Aiyuk advice after knee injury – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

It's almost always a good idea to listen to the advice of 49ers legend Jerry Rice – especially if he's been through the exact same thing as you.

San Francisco star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk tore both his ACL and ACL in the 49ers' 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed Monday, ending his 2024 NFL season .

Rice suffered a torn ACL in Week 1 of the 1997 season, but shocked the world when he returned in Week 15 of the same season. On Monday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver joined 95.7 The Game's “The Morning Roast” to share the advice he would give Aiyuk as he endures the adversity of the lengthy recovery process.

“I think the most important thing is not to rush back — because that’s what I did,” Rice said. “I backtracked a little bit because I wanted to be there for the retirement of the greatest quarterback of all time, Joe Montana. Then I ended up breaking my kneecap. And I was right back in surgery. So it wasn’t a very smart move.”

“So he has to give him time to heal and when he feels he is at 100 percent then he can get back on the football field. But an injury like that takes time.”

After the best season of his career last year, in which he was the team's leading receiver and caught 75 passes for a record 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns, Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million contract with San Francisco shortly before the start of the season 2024 season.

However, he had a slow start to this season, with 47 receptions for 347 yards and zero touchdowns in seven contests before suffering the season-ending injury on Sunday.

Aiyuk suffered the injury after being crushed by two Chiefs defenders following a 15-yard catch with 37 seconds left in the second quarter. He remained on the field for several seconds before he was able to leave the field on his own. He was later carted to the 49ers locker room before being ejected from the game.

The 49ers' injuries continue to mount, with All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey recovering from Achilles tendonitis and Deebo Samuel hospitalized with pneumonia. If they want to have any chance of keeping their season alive, they'll have to rely on their other offensive playmakers to keep things under control.

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