49ers vs. Lions: 4 players who let Kyle Shanahan down in Week 1

No. 2: 49ers Wide Receiver Brandon Aiyuk

Brandon Aiyuk might not have been targeted at all during the game, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t out there.

Aiyuk saw 26 offensive snaps and even managed a punt return. Yet it was still odd for the second-year pro not to see anything thrown his way. Was that due to him and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo not yet having established a rapport? Or was it something else?

But as Shanahan noted on Monday, it was fellow wide receiver Trent Sherfield who began cutting into Aiyuk’s snap count:

"I just think he’s got a better person behind him this year in training camp and with Aiyuk missing some time and how well [WR] Trent Sherfield played and especially with Aiyuk missing some time heading into that game, it wasn’t a very tough decision."

Aiyuk had been struggling with some drops, both during training camp and in the preseason, too, and those are likely to convince Shanahan to bump the receiver down the depth chart regardless of what happened a year ago or Aiyuk’s draft pedigree.

Shanahan is notoriously hard on wide receivers, too, so it makes sense why he’d want to light a proverbial fire underneath Aiyuk early this season.