Deebo Samuel’s run on the first play of Sunday’s loss to the Washington Football Team might be his last snap of the season. He pulled up on the play with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game, and head coach Kyle Shanahan indicated it could sideline him for the year.
While Shanahan didn’t give a timetable for the second-year receiver, only offering that he’d “be out a while”, he did say Samuel would likely miss the rest of the regular season.
“I think we’d have to make the playoffs for him to come back,” Shanahan said.
A San Francisco playoff runs is extremely far off, and even then bringing Samuel back doesn’t necessarily guarantee he’d be healthy. Shanahan is hoping the receiver comes back healthier in 2021 with an opportunity for a full offseason.
“Deebo getting that injury in the offseason and him trying to come back where he didn’t get an offseason because of his (Jones fracture) and how hard that is to do,” Shanahan on Monday said in a video conference. “I remember talking to him this morning when he came in, just knowing about his hamstring and stuff and every time Deebo’s come back, he’s gotten re-injured and it’s because he hasn’t been in a position to really be in great football shape.
“I was just telling Deebo that, I know he was so down that he might end up missing the rest of this year and I was like, ‘I know it seems like a bad thing, but it’s a positive thing if you make sure that this hamstring injury is what you learn for the rest of your life on why every day in this league matters and how much you have to work in the offseason. How much you have to take care of yourself so you can play for a full year,’ because that’s the only thing that’s going to hold a guy back like that.”
Should he miss the final three regular season games the 2019 second-round pick will finish his sophomore campaign with just seven games played. In those seven games he racked up 33 catches for 391 yards and a touchdown.
The 49ers offense is undeniably better when Samuel is on the field. While he may be done for the 2020 campaign, the bigger deal for San Francisco will be ensuring he’s healthy for the 2021 season.