One thing holding the 49ers back from reaching their ceiling

This is the final piece.

Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Things could not have gone much better for the San Francisco 49ers in the return of Brock Purdy.

He was not at his best, but the team did not need him to be. He still flashed enough of a ceiling, and the team looked strong enough around him to envision this offense firing all on cylinders. However, there is still one more piece missing if they truly want to fire in a way that makes them Super Bowl contenders. 

San Francisco 49ers offense is missing one piece now

The biggest question left is Brandon Aiyuk. Ricky Pearsall returned with Brock Purdy, and while he did not record any stats, the amount of snaps that he did play has fans thinking he is going to be just fine. 

Ben Bartch has been playing a little more than a third of the last two games, but he is close to being a full-time starter. With those two in the mix, the 49ers have the starters on paper at every position aside from Aiyuk. 

The defense is not going to get healthier, so the only way for San Francisco to make a run is to have the best offense in the  NFL. It is possible to achieve this, but it is going to be much harder without Aiyuk. 

The 49ers speculated on opening his practice window a few weeks ago. However, we are now onto Week 12, and he has yet to practice. The practice window is three weeks, and it usually allows the player one week to ramp up and then one week to get game-ready. The third week may be for any complications that occurred during the second week. 

Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

 So, at this point, it is fair to say that Aiyuk is still at least two weeks away from returning. If Aiyuk returned to practice this week, he may play in the Cleveland Browns game. Then, he can get some game action and head into a bye week to rest up. 

However, the most likely case at this point is that Aiyuk is out through the bye week. He would have to have a great week of practice this week to return, and that appears unlikely as of now. The team is not going to rush him back for a road game in a potentially frigid Cleveland air, knowing that a bye week and a home stretch are left. 

The 49ers will likely sit through the bye and hope that he returns in Week 15. Still, that is a bit off from the initial projections, and even that may be an optimistic timeline as of now.