Brandon Aiyuk has turned his season around, but he had to go through some growing pains at the beginning of year two.
Aiyuk had a number of well documented conversations with Kyle Shanahan early in the year, where the 49ers head coach explained whey he needed from the wide receiver to make him a focal point of the offense. Something finally clicked. Over the past seven games, Aiyuk has caught 32 passes for 453 yards and 3 touchdowns. In his first six games of the year, Aiyuk had nine receptions for 96 yards and 1 TD.
On Wednesday, Aiyuk joined Murph & Mac and explained what changed for him this season and the discussions he had with Shanahan.
“I think that was just an opportunity for them talking to me about what they feel, what I needed to get done, and where they see things at,” Aiyuk said on KNBR. “That was an opportunity for me to see it in a way we hadn’t seen it before or heard it before. I think that conversation was great, and that was pretty much what it was. Just clearing the air and getting on common ground so we could move forward.
“I was glad to actually hear it because I was able to understand what they were seeing and they were thinking, and how they saw because we saw it completely different. For them to get it out that way and me to get on the same page as them.”
Aiyuk says that it wasn’t just issues on the field, but also the way he was carrying himself. Aiyuk says that once he learned how to “be a pro” Shanahan began giving him more opportunities.
“Absolutely. People say it a lot, I heard it a lot coming out of college, but you don’t really know exactly what that means until you get here and you have coaches like this who tell you what it is to actually be a pro. Everybody comes into the league and believes that they are, but that’s not the case. That’s what I thought, definitely not the case.
“Definitely learning how to be a professional in the building, how you carry yourself not just on the football field, but how you walk around as well.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Murph & Mac weekdays from 6 – 10 a.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.