49ers' depleted WR corps exposes limits of next-man-up mantra: ‘It's incredibly different'

Falcons cornerback C.J. Henderson celebrates over San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jacob Cowing on Sunday in Atlanta. (Danny Karnik/Associated Press) ATLANTA - There was an open book in Brandin Cooks' locker late Sunday afternoon. It was a Bible. The San Francisco 49ers wide receiver was asked about it."Yeah, I read it before every game," Cooks said. "It gives me peace."At this point, less than five weeks after the 49ers signed the previously unemployed Cooks, the 13-year veteran doesn't have the same relationship with a far different tome that's also filled with complexity: Head coach Kyle Shanahan's playbook.And Cooks, 33, isn't alone. The 49ers' three other wide receivers who were available Sunday - Jordan Watkins, Jacob Cowing and Christian Kirk - weren't fully on the same page with quarterback Brock Purdy because, well, they weren't supposed to be playing in a 29-20 loss against the Falcons.The defeat dropped the 49ers (6-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten and made it clear the NFL's next-man-up mantra doesn't apply when the next guys in line are options 6, 7, 8 and 9.The 49ers played without their top five wide receivers, all of whom were injured, and Purdy was left to throw to a wideout corps consisting of Cooks, Watkins, Cowing and Kirk (0 targets), who was making his 49ers debut after a calf injury on the first day of training camp sidelined him for two-plus months. Before Sunday, Purdy had targeted the quartet with 17 of his 1,524 career passes. That's 1.1% of his throws.Purdy, the NFL's career passer-rating leader (104.8), completed 7 of 14 passes for 107 yards with an interception (45.8 rating) when targeting the foursome. That didn't include another interception he tossed when he scrambled right and thought Kirk would break his route to the sideline. He didn't. The result: Purdy third-quarter pass to no one in white and red was picked by someone in red and black, safety Jessie Bates."They're new guys so it's like, yeah, you've got to learn how they run routes and how they play," Purdy said. "That's a real thing."The 49ers had a real problem Sunday because Mike Evans (Achilles), Deebo Samuel (hamstring), De'Zhaun Stribling (ankle), Demarcus Robinson (ankle) and Ricky Pearsall - their top five wideouts when they opened training camp - were unavailable.So wideout No. 6 was WR1 on Sunday. Yes, unique. In fact, tight end George Kittle wondered if the 49ers made NFL injury history."Has that ever happened before?" Kittle asked. "I don't think it has."The attrition meant the 49ers had just four wide receivers on their gameday roster for the first time since Nov. 5, 2020, when a rash of positive COVID tests decimated their roster before a 34-17 loss to the Packers.On Sunday, Purdy completed 20 of 26 passes for 181 yards when he didn't target wide receivers. His go-to weapons who were still standing were Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey, who missed the final 20 minutes of the first half with a calf injury and had just 26 of 100 total yards when he returned after halftime.The beat-up wideout corps meant Purdy was operating with a stripped-down gameplan devised by Shanahan and offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak."Is the game plan different? Sure. It's incredibly different," Kittle said. "But what I've seen earlier is that Kyle and our Kubiak do a really good job. They build the offense around what we have available. And then they try to put those guys in positions to succeed."The success stories were limited Sunday. If there was a bright spot, it was Watkins, who had three catches for 56 yards after the 2025 fourth-round pick arrived with five career catches.Early in the fourth quarter, with the 49ers trailing 26-14, it appeared Watkins made an improbable 23-yard touchdown catch when he contorted his body around C.J. Henderson and got both feet in bounds in the left corner of the end zone. However, the score was overturned on replay because Watkins didn't maintain control of the ball when he slammed to the ground.With the 49ers trailing 26-20 with just under three minutes left, Purdy targeted Watkins on 3rd-and-9 from the 48-yard line just after Cooks was flagged for a false start. Purdy's pass was picked by Kendal Daniels, a dropping linebacker he failed to see."(Watkins) made some really impressive plays," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. "Even Jacob Cowing, he had some great plays where he stepped back to the ball."Cowing's impact was modest. He had three catches for 38 yards on five targets. But the 49ers' veterans were being charitable when it came to the wideouts who were thrust into roles for which they weren't ready. Kittle praised Cooks, who had one catch on three targets. Cooks' lone reception, a 13-yarder, came with just over a minute left and the 49ers trailing by nine."Brandin Cooks made some good catches for us," Kittle said. "So we can still win with (these injuries), it's just kind of a little different."The NFL's third-ranked scoring offense has looked much different since Evans limped off the field with Achilles tendinitis just before halftime in a 23-17 win over the Commanders on Monday. Since the start of the third quarter against the Commanders, the 49ers have been outscored 43-23 and Purdy, an early season MVP candidate, has completed 31 of 47 passes with 338 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions (76.4 rating).On Sunday, early in the fourth quarter, on 2nd-and-9 from Atlanta's 34, Purdy fired a strike that Watkins dropped at the 14. On the next snap, Cooks dropped a pass at the 21.It was another sign that Cooks, one of two players with 1,000-yard seasons with four different teams, might not have much to give at this point in his career. Cooks has three catches for 29 yards on eight targets in four games."I think it's going well," Cooks said. "I'm working hard at it and it's going well throughout the week. I'm going to just continue to learn. The expectation is to just learn at a fast pace. I have to be able to help the team in every way I can."That's the expectation. But the hope was that Sunday was an aberration. The 49ers will have a bye this week and it's possible their wide receiver corps could include Evans and others when they host the Raiders on Nov. 8.If so, Purdy may not have to develop a connection that doesn't currently exist with wideouts who were nearly nonexistent Sunday."I thought I saw a lot of really cool things from Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowing," Purdy said. "Obviously, I'm trying to get the rock to Brandin Cooks and Christian Kirk, too, to see what they can do. But that will all come."SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at 49ers' depleted WR corps exposes limits of next-man-up mantra: ‘It's incredibly different'.