When Christian McCaffrey was out, the 49ers could take comfort in knowing they’d one other versatile and dynamic weapon in Deebo Samuel.
The 49ers shall be without each of them for the following two games because Samuel has suffered a calf strain and coach Kyle Shanahan expects him to be out of motion for 2 weeks.
That means the 49ers will play the Los Angeles Rams on the road after which host the New England Patriots without McCaffrey and Samuel, a serious blow to a team that has struggled to get into the top zone in the primary two games of the season.
“Injuries from the game, just a new one — Deebo pulled a calf at the end,” Shanahan said in the beginning of his conference call with local reporters on Tuesday. “He's probably out for a couple of weeks. That's all.”
That's all?
Samuel led the 49ers with eight catches for 110 yards, including 28 in Sunday's 23-17 road loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He also had two runs that lost 10 yards.
With McCaffrey out for a minimum of three more games and possibly longer with Achilles tendinitis, a part of the plan was to back up Samuel in each the passing and running game. That's impossible now.
“He told me he thinks he did it on the third-to-last play, they had a blitz in the red zone, he caught the hot route on the break, he says he thinks he did it on that play,” Shanahan said.
Since McCaffrey last arrived in 2022, this shall be the primary time Shanahan has coached a game with each players out.
“It's always tough when you lose really good players, but that happens all over the league,” Shanahan said. “That's a big part of this league and this game. You have to deal with it.”
The 49ers' next opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, learned that they’ve lost wide receiver Cooper Kupp and their other top wide receiver Puka Nacua is already on the injured list. The Rams have plenty of other injuries to key players.
Premature judgments
70 – The variety of offensive snaps played by the 49ers. Every offensive lineman played every snap in a game through which the 49ers allowed six sacks.
54 – The variety of defensive snaps played by the 49ers. Warner, Ji'Ayir Brown and Deommodore Lenoir played every snap. Charvarius Ward had 53 snaps.
46 – The variety of snaps for edge rusher Nick Bosa, essentially the most of any defensive lineman.
26–Snaps of defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos in his 49ers debut. No tackles, one quarterback hit.
20 – The variety of special teams snaps played by linebacker Curtis Robinson, who didn’t play a single down on defense.
Originally published:
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