SANTA CLARA -- Slot receiver Trent Taylor was one of the 49ers' bright spots as a rookie last season.
The fifth-round draft pick from Louisiana Tech caught 43 passes last season for 430 yards, including 34 receptions on third or fourth downs. He was expected to be a major contributor to an improved 49ers offense this season.
“It wasn’t just by accident that he was one of the better guys in the league last year on third down,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said on “49ers Game Plan,” which airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on NBC Bay Area (Ch. 3).
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Taylor underwent surgery in the offseason to remove bone spurs from his lower back. He missed the entire offseason program and most of training camp. Upon his return, he was unable to regain the same short-area quickness he demonstrated to repeatedly get open as a rookie.
But it has not clicked for Taylor this season. He has appeared in 12 games and caught 22 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown.
“Trent just hasn’t been the same guy this year,” Shanahan said. “He knows that.”
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Last year, Taylor ranked sixth in the NFL with 30 punt returns for 281 yards. He recently was moved back into that role when rookie Richie James struggled fielding punts. In the past two games, Taylor has five punt returns for 56 yards.
“When you miss an entire offseason, even if you get somewhat healthy, your legs aren’t quite there,” Shanahan said. “Trent has battled that throughout the whole year. I will say in these last couple weeks, it’s starting to come back for him. He has been better.
“We got two more weeks here. Trent is getting better as we go. But I expect him to get back to where he was last year when we start back up in the offseason. If he does, Trent is made of the right stuff. He’s a very good football player.”