San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel's status for this weekend's NFC championship game against the Detroit Lions remains uncertain, coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday. Samuel suffered a shoulder injury during his team's 24-21 playoff win over the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night, but the team said he did not have a fracture.
The 49ers said they hope to have a much clearer idea of Samuels' potential availability for the NFC title game by midweek.
“It wasn’t broken, so that was a really good sign,” Shanahan said over Samuel’s shoulder. “But it still hurts too much for us to have a clear idea of how it will heal this week. So we'll just have to be patient and see how he feels on Wednesday. And depending on whether it improves or not, we will see whether he has a chance for the game or not.”
The 49ers are currently formulating their offensive game plan. Wednesday is the installation day during training and Thursday is the heaviest training of the week.
“If we know he’s not available, it makes it easier to game plan,” Shanahan said. “But if there is a chance, which I think we will have a better idea of on Wednesday, there will obviously be things (in the game plan) for him.”
The 49ers were pleased with veteran receiver Chris Conley's backup contributions against the Packers. Conley provided a crucial block on running back Christian McCaffrey's 39-yard touchdown run before catching a 17-yard deep out from quarterback Brock Purdy on the game-winning drive.
“Conley — that’s why guys like him and Willie Snead are here,” Shanahan said.
Samuel left the NFC divisional round game twice before being sidelined with a shoulder injury early in the third quarter. The shoulder injury occurred midway through the first quarter and a return was initially considered questionable. At the start of the half he was seen without a jersey or shoulder pads and was soon ruled out for the rest of the game.
He was eliminated for the first time in the first quarter after suffering a hard blow to the head. He entered the blue medical tent and completed concussion protocol before returning to the sideline.
Samuel's day ended with two catches and 24 yards. He recorded 892 receiving yards and 225 rushing yards for a total of 12 touchdowns during the season.
Losing Samuel midway through the game added to the 49ers' frustration
Obviously not having Samuel in the receiver rotation is bad for the 49ers. They lost all three games, which he either missed or was unable to complete due to a shoulder injury in Week 6. But losing him early in a game, as happened Saturday, is worse. Shanahan said it led to all sorts of play-calling challenges, including one where Jauan Jennings ended up lining up in the backfield and getting a carry. (Result: a 1-yard loss).
Additionally, Purdy could have used Samuel on a day when the Packers played soft coverage and Purdy's accuracy was compromised due to the rain and a wet football. The play calls likely would have been similar to those in Week 3, when Purdy targeted Samuel 12 times against the New York Giants and Samuel finished with 129 receiving yards. – Matt Barrows, 49ers beat writer
Samuel is particularly motivated to play for the Lions
Samuel doesn't need any extra motivation to play on Sunday. After all, his team is making its third consecutive appearance in the NFC Championship, and the previous two games ended in heartbreaking fashion for him and the 49ers. But the matchup between the 49ers and Lions is even more exciting when you consider that Lions safety CJ Gardner Johnson, a former Eagles player, has been feuding with Samuel since the regular season.
“You better hope that all that talk you're talking when we all see you, no matter what (playoff) round it may be… because I can protect you,” Gardner-Johnson said during an Instagram Live Meeting. “You can’t run routes. You're a running back. You're a running back. I'm not going to sit here and play with you, little boy. Just because you have a small pocket, people give you a little influence and then you are nothing, brother.”
Samuel is in the middle of a long-running feud with Philadelphia defensemen that emerged from last year's NFC Championship. That added a little more momentum to the teams' meeting on December 3rd this season. The enthusiastic Samuel finished this game with 138 total yards and three touchdowns. – Wheelbarrows
Required reading
(Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images)