It seems like ages ago when thoughts of the San Francisco 49ers missing star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk for no more than the first four games of the regular season were prominent.
Now, it's fair to wonder whether or not Aiyuk will miss the entirety of 2025.
Granted, Aiyuk's devastating ACL and MCL tears in the first half of the Niners' 2024 campaign set him back in a major way, and it was clear at the outset he'd have a long and difficult recovery to get back into form.
But, as week after week passed since the 2020 first-round draft pick opened up the year on the physically unable-to-perform list, Aiyuk's pending return has gone from imminent to remotely possible.
And general manager John Lynch's latest comments on the matter don't inspire a ton of confidence either.
John Lynch keeps 49ers fans in the dark regarding Brandon Aiyuk recovery
Speaking during his weekly appearance on KNBR 680's Murph & Markus Show, the GM covered a wide range of topics, including whether or not quarterback Brock Purdy would make his long-awaited return from a turf-toe injury in Week 11's showdown with the Arizona Cardinals.
While there was optimism there, Lynch didn't exactly echo the same regarding Aiyuk.
"That's not the intention," Lynch responded when asked if the wide receiver would miss the entirety of 2025. "The intention is to get Brandon back. We're not there yet, and so we'll continue to have him excel at his rehab, and we just got to get him to a place where we're comfortable to open that window and then see if he can he can make it back on the field."
OK, that might sound encouraging. But intention and reality are two very different things, and San Francisco has been intending to get Aiyuk back on the field as soon as reasonably possible.
It just hasn't been possible. Nor does it sound like it will be anytime soon.
"We'll see," Lynch continued. "No absolutes there, and you just take it as it comes there."
The general manager isn't coming out and saying it directly, and he'd have little reason to do so unless there were concrete reasons to shut the receiver down for the rest of the year.
However, his comments don't exactly inspire a lot of confidence in Aiyuk's return, and the longer the regular season drags on, the bigger the likelihood of it being a full wash for the receiver with 2026 looking more and more like the realistic return-to date.
Frustrating.