The 49ers won’t have wide receiver Deebo Samuel for their Week 8 game against the Rams. He suffered a hamstring injury during the team’s Week 7 loss to the Chiefs, but the ailment isn’t expected to keep him out for long.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Friday in a press conference said Samuel should be able to return after the team’s Week 9 bye.
“It’s not a precaution, he’s not good enough to go,” Shanahan said. “The fact that he even had a chance hopefully means he’ll be good with the week off and be ready for the next game.”
Things don’t get easier for the 49ers out of the bye where they’ll face the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football.
While it would appear San Francisco can rely less on Samuel with running back Christian McCaffrey in the building, the addition of the do-everything RB was supposed to help supplement Samuel’s dual-threat skill set. The 49ers offense can find success with one or the other, but its peak won’t be found until they’re both on the field.
The short-term view is that Samuel will be missed in any game he misses. The long-term view is that Shanahan needs to figure out how best to play Samuel and McCaffrey off one another. With nine games left after the bye, they’re running out of time to hit their stride offensively, so getting Samuel back as soon as possible could be paramount to finding a deep postseason run again this year.
