San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Deebo Samuel missed Wednesday’s practice with his injured shoulder, and his status for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game remains uncertain.
“His shoulder hurts,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters, adding that Samuel is “feeling better.”
Shanahan said Monday that Samuel has a 50-50 shot to play against the visiting Detroit Lions.
Though the shoulder was not fractured, Samuel is dealing with a lot of pain, but Shanahan “feels better” about the prospect of Samuel playing.
Other than Samuel, Shanahan said everyone else was a full go at practice.
Samuel suffered the injury to his left shoulder in the first half of Saturday’s divisional round win against the Green Bay Packers and did not play in the second half. He caught two passes for 24 yards in the 24-21 victory.
“He’s probably the best playmaker in this league,” quarterback Brock Purdy said. “You get the ball in his hands, he can do whatever he wants. … Deebo definitely gives us some juice.”
Samuel also dealt with an injury to his left shoulder earlier in the season. He missed two games and the bye week in October and November with a microfracture in that shoulder.
Samuel, 28, caught 60 passes for 892 yards and seven touchdowns and rushed for 225 yards and five scores in 15 games during the 2023 regular season.
He caught nine passes for 189 yards and a touchdown against the Lions in Dan Campbell’s first game as head coach in Detroit in 2021. The 49ers won the game 41-33.
–Field Level Media
