Hawks absolutely smoked the Cardinals 31-7 yesterday, reminding everyone who runs the NFC West. What a start to the week for the Emerald City! But hold up, across the division, things are getting wild. The San Francisco 49ers are bringing in veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks to their practice squad, a direct result of brutal injuries tearing through their receiver room. You heard that right: *practice squad* for a guy with nearly 10,000 career receiving yards.
A Veteran’s Wild Ride Lands Him in the Bay
Cooks turns 33 pretty soon, on September 25th, and this dude has been on an absolute tour of the NFL. This is his *seventh* career team, heading into his 13th year in the league. Think about that grind! He’s played for the Saints, Bills, Texans, Rams, Cowboys, and Patriots. Last season alone, he split time between New Orleans and Buffalo, playing 15 games and hauling in 24 passes for 279 yards. He even stepped up in the playoffs for the Bills, catching five passes for 78 yards across two games. But the real kicker? Over his 12-year career, Cooks has piled up 734 catches for a monstrous 9,811 yards and 60 touchdowns. He’s got six seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards under his belt. That’s a serious resume, especially for a practice squad guy.
The Niners’ Depth Chart is in Shambles
So why is a guy with Cooks’ numbers signing with a practice squad, especially for a team like the 49ers? Simple: they are absolutely ravaged by injuries at receiver. Ricky Pearsall is already out for the entire year, which is a huge blow. Now, De’Zhaun Stribling and Demarcus Robinson are both expected to miss an extended period of time from those outside receiver spots. Head coach Kyle Shanahan had already said they were going to try out some players for Week 3, and you saw the impact already against the Miami Dolphins where Khadarel Hodge and Jacob Cowing had to step up for 20 and 24 snaps, respectively. The plan is for Cooks to get up to speed on the practice squad, but honestly, with their receiver room looking like a MASH unit, you gotta wonder how long he’ll stay there. They’re going to need him sooner rather than later, guaranteed.
It just goes to show you, no matter how good you think you are, the injury bug can bite hard. While our rivals are scrambling to find healthy bodies to line up, we’re out here stacking Ws. Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, Cooper Kupp , those guys are healthy and ready to roll. Let’s keep that momentum going, 12s, and watch the rest of the league try to keep up. Keep pushing, Emerald City!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Niners Nation.
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