49ers Place Deebo Samuel on Injured Reserve List
The 49ers placed wide receiver Deebo Samuel on the Injured Reserve List Saturday, but his season isn’t over.
Samuel will be eligible to return as soon as Week 4 when the 49ers play the Eagles at Levi’s Stadium. A new rule for this unique season during a pandemic allows teams to place players on I.R. for just three weeks.
On Friday, a reporter asked 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan why the 49ers hadn’t yet placed Samuel on I.R. Here’s what Shanahan said:
“We believed he had a good chance to play this week. It didn’t go the way we hoped, but he still will be day to day going into next week. We felt there was a chance. We’ll see how next week goes. Also, something with the rules that because it happened before training camp, which was considered a non-football injury, for some reason we couldn’t do that.”
Good thing the 49ers got that figured out.
Samuel broke his foot on June 18 while working out on his own in preparation for training camp. He has done no football activities since he injured himself, but he apparently is healthy enough that the 49ers thought he had a chance to play against the Cardinals. I would be surprised if he doesn’t return Week 4 against the Eagles.
The 49ers made additional roster moves on Saturday. They’re allowed to call up two practice squad players for each game. And for this game, they have called up center Hroniss Grassu and cornerback Dontae Johnson. Neither player likely will play, but both will provide critical depth at thin positions.
