49ers Will be Without Deebo Samuel Against Vikings; Trent Williams Doubtful

The 49ers will be without Deebo Samuel against the Vikings in Week 7 as he nurses a hairline fracture in his shoulder.

Looks like Kyle Shanahan wasn't being fully honest with the injuries to his star players.

The 49ers will be without Deebo Samuel against the Vikings in Week 7 as he nurses a hairline fracture in his shoulder. He will not only miss Week 7, but Week 8 as well against the Bengals before heading into the Bye week. Star offensive tackle Trent Williams is also unlikely to play against the Vikings due to an ankle injury.

49ers’ HC Kyle Shanahan told reporters that WR Deebo Samuel is dealing with a hairline fracture in his shoulder and will be out the next two games leading up to the team’s bye week.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 21, 2023

Shanahan a couple days ago had led everyone on that his star players were on a "day-to-day" basis, which clearly was a farce. There is no way he barely found out that Samuel had a fracture in his shoulder. He certainly knew of that on Sunday when Samuel went into the locker room for an x-ray. This is an example of why Shanahan cannot always have his words taken at face value, especially with injuries. He likely was trying to get the Vikings to invest time in their practices defending against him.

The good news is that Christian McCaffrey should be available against the Vikings. So, clearly his injury isn't concerning. Looks like it really is just a pain tolerance issue, which he can mitigate with padding and careful preparation going into the game. Still, the 49ers need to take care with him and not run him heavily into the ground as they have all season long. They have other capable running backs to keep the offense afloat with Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell. Preserve McCaffrey for the long haul.

As for Williams, backup left tackle Jaylon Moore is likely to get the start in his stead. This is really the biggest loss of all the three players. Williams impacts the run and pass game. He is an anchor in the security of both facets of the offense. Moore is potentially a liability, which will be a huge task for the 49ers to circumvent since they have right tackle Colton McKivitz as a player of worry.

Even with all of these missing pieces and concerns, the 49ers should still be able to get the job done against the Vikings.