The San Francisco 49ers potentially took more than one loss against the Kansas City Chiefs.

All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Ayiuk is feared to have torn his ACL. Head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted in his post-game press conference that this is what the 49ers are thinking. Aiyuk left the game after securing a 14-yard catch with 48 seconds left in the first half. He took a brutal shot from Chiefs safety Chamarri Conner as he came across the field for the catch.

The defender came in hard and took him down by the legs. Aiyuk’s right leg appears overextended or bent in an awkward manner. Whatever happened, it’s clear it was a significant injury. He went to the blue tent on the sideline and had to be taken to the locker room. Every time a player is taken away it means it is the worst case scenario.

Unfortunately, this worst-case scenario could eventually become a reality. Should Aiyuk truly have a torn ACL, the 49ers will look to rookie Ricky Pearsall to step up. He made his debut today after missing time due to an unfortunate shooting incident. Aiyuk has had a strange tenure since the 49ers suffered a heartbreaking loss in Super Bowl LVIII.

It all started because he needed a contract extension in the final year of his rookie deal. He was coming off an All-Pro season and has proven to improve each season. Extending him made a lot of sense, but the 49ers made it difficult. It was nothing new. The 49ers always have to complicate things with adding their players, even when it’s obvious.

Aiyuk has never been able to make a big impact this season. He jumped for eight catches and 147 receiving yards in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals. Outside of that game he was a shadow of his former self. That’s partly because he missed almost all of training camp. It took him time to get his legs under him.

He wasn’t a factor for the Chiefs before the injury. He had dropped the best pass of the game to Brock Purdy, which would have been a first down early in the second quarter. Still, his loss didn’t make anything better for the 49ers. If he was available, it would have been easier to stage a comeback against the Chiefs.

Regardless, this is a devastating loss for the 49ers if Aiyuk is out for the year.