SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Late in Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle looked around the offensive huddle and took stock of what the team's latest rash of injuries had wrought.
Under normal circumstances, Kittle would find himself surrounded by some of the league's best players such as running back Christian McCaffrey and receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel Sr. On other occasions, maybe Elijah Mitchell would have subbed in for McCaffrey or Jauan Jennings would be in for a three-wideout package.
This time, though, nobody could have faulted Kittle if he needed his fellow skill players to turn around and show him the names on the back of their jerseys in order to remember who they are. With McCaffrey (Achilles tendonitis), Samuel (pneumonia), Aiyuk (right torn ACL/MCL) and Jennings (hip) dealing with injuries and illness, it was rookie receivers Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing, veteran wideout Chris Conley and running back Jordan Mason standing in their spots.
Such is San Francisco's reality in a season that is starting to feel eerily similar to a 2020 that was wrecked by injury. Kittle now finds himself needing to prod an unproven group of youngsters to keep the 49ers (3-4) in contention until reinforcements can arrive.
"The guys in the building are really talented, so we have to figure that out," Kittle said. "It's on our vets to pull them along, whether they're ready or not... (The injuries) impact you to an extent but you have to have the three-foot mindset and just attack what's in front of you."
Aiyuk will have surgery and go on injured reserve, which will leave a whopping 10 Niners on that list in addition to the two (linebacker Dre Greenlaw and defensive end Drake Jackson) on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
A look around the league reveals that a few other teams, such as the Detroit Lions, have more or as many players on some kind of injury list.
"I know a lot of teams deal with it," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "Not every team, but we're dealing with it hard right now and it got worse (Sunday)."
For the 49ers, it's not just about the quantity of players lost but the quality.
McCaffrey, safety Talanoa Hufanga (torn wrist ligaments), defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (torn triceps), Mitchell (torn hamstring) and guard Jon Feliciano (knee) are among the key starters or contributors on injured reserve with Aiyuk set to join them.
That doesn't account for shorter term injuries that have cost Jennings, kicker Jake Moody, Kittle, Samuel and cornerback Charvarius Ward games so far this season. All told, the Niners have played at least one game without the services of players who have combined for 13 Pro Bowls and 12 All Pro nods at some point this season.
Those injuries have played a significant role in the team's 3-4 start and given the 49ers and their fans flashback to what happened in the season following their last Super Bowl appearance.
Coming off a narrow loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, the 49ers had designs on running it back in 2020. Those plans went up in smoke in a Week 2 win against the New York Jets when the 49ers lost end Nick Bosa, defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and running back Raheem Mostert to serious injuries. Things were so bad for the Niners that during the week between that game and a Week 3 meeting against the New York Giants, an MRI truck that was supposed to meet them at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia broke down on the way.
It was all downhill from there and by the time that 6-10 campaign was over, the 49ers had a league-high 18 players on injured reserve. According to FTN Fantasy's adjusted games lost formula (which estimates the impact of injuries on teams), the Niners had a score of 166.6, which was the second-most of any team over the past two decades and more than 30 games more than the second place New England Patriots (134.8).
Linebacker Fred Warner was one of the few 49ers to get through that season without missing a game, which informs his approach on what it takes to ignore what's being said about his injury-depleted team and figure out how to overcome it.
"You can listen to what people say about you in the outside world," Warner said. "All the stories can be written that we're not good enough and all these sorts of things, for us, it's about just continuing to focus on what we do."
Part of that challenge is for the remaining players not to press too much until help is on the way. While Shanahan is hoping Jennings returns this week, he doesn't expect to get McCaffrey, Greenlaw or Moody back against the Dallas Cowboys. However, there's hope McCaffrey and Moody can return after the Week 9 bye with Greenlaw following sometime after that.
San Francisco's depth, which has fallen off in recent years in part because of valuable draft picks that were traded away, will be tested. A promising rookie class will be asked to continue to contribute in crucial ways and San Francisco will "look into everything" before the Nov. 5 trade deadline, according to Shanahan.
The first order of business will be replacing Aiyuk, who will have surgery and be placed on the injured reserve, in the starting lineup. That responsibility will fall to Jennings when he returns from his hip injury, which would then have a trickle-down effect to Pearsall, the 49ers' first-round pick, whose role is going to expand regardless as he continues to get reacclimated after missing the first six weeks recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest.
When Samuel and Jennings are back, Pearsall is in line to be the first to get more snaps when the Niners are in three-receiver sets. Ronnie Bell also remains on the roster despite a rough start that has pushed him down the depth chart.
Fellow rookie Cowing and veteran Conley also factor into the mix, though Conley is dealing with an ankle injury of his own. Depending on what happens with Jennings and Samuel, the 49ers offensive huddle could look similar to what Kittle saw against the Chiefs.
For now, teams will continue to attack the 49ers' weaknesses such as the linebacker group outside of Warner and their struggles with handling man coverage on offense.
The 49ers are seeing man coverage at the fourth highest rate in the league (49.6%) and quarterback Brock Purdy has a 48.2 QBR against it, which ranks 23rd. Given that Purdy's QBR rises to 76.8 (second in the NFL) against zone, it's reasonable to expect teams with capable corners to continue to press at the line of scrimmage and play man as the Niners sift through their backup pass catching options.
That will put more of the onus on the 49ers' remaining stars, most notably Purdy. But he knows it will only compound the problems if he tries to play hero ball.
"Is there more pressure for me to put on a Superman cape and do more? No," Purdy said. "I think who we have and the players that we have that step up in those positions, they've done a great job and we have a lot of talent in my eyes. That's on me and we'll just all continue to grow and fight on this journey together."