The 49ers won’t have wide receiver Deebo Samuel for at least the first three games after the club placed him on Injured Reserve on Saturday. New IR rules during the COVID-19 pandemic lowered the minimum amount of time a player had to spend on IR from six weeks to three weeks.
Samuel spent all of training camp on the Non-Football Injury list after suffering a foot injury in the offseason. He was activated off NFI after final roster cuts, giving some reason for optimism that he’d play in the season opener.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Friday indicated Samuel hadn’t been placed on IR because the team was confident he’d be back before the required three week window. They were also unable to put him on IR right away because of a league rule about players who were activated off the NFI. Samuel didn’t practice at all in the week leading up to the opener, and now he’ll be sidelined for the next two weeks as well.
There’s no indication that anything changed with Samuel’s injury or recovery. If he comes back in Week 4 it’ll be near the back end of the originally reported 12-16 week timetable for his return. It appears the 49ers are aiming to ensure Samuel will be on the field permanently once he does get back rather than risking a potentially longer-term injury.
There’s been no corresponding move to replace him on the 53-man roster. Kevin White and Jauan Jennings are the two wide receivers available in-house on the practice squad.
Samuel is slated to miss the opener vs. the Arizona Cardinals, along with both games against the Jets and Giants on the 49ers’ East Coast swing the second and third weeks of the season.
Last season as a rookie Samuel played in 15 games and posted 57 catches, 802 receiving yards and three touchdowns in the air. He also rushed for 159 yards and three scores on 14 carries.
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