After playing 86 percent of the San Francisco 49ers‘ Week 7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Deebo Samuel has been held out of practice on Wednesday and Thursday with a “hamstring” injury. While Samuel’s prognosis didn’t improve on Friday, as he was held out of practice once more, fans waited with bated breath to see what his status should be for Week 8, when the Niners head down to Los Angeles for a 2021 NFC Championship Game rematch.
At roughly 1:30 pm PST, that status was made official: Out.
When asked if Samuel was being held out for precautionary reasons with the Bye week forthcoming, Samuel rejected the notion, as he detailed to reporters in his Friday media availability session.
John Lynch Didn’t Sound Too Optimistic About Samuel’s Return
Speaking on the Murph & Mac show, general manager John Lynch detailed how things have been going for Samuel and what to expect from him in Week 8, as detailed by 49ers WebZone.
“Well, we haven’t had him the first two days, so that’s not great,” Lynch said. “But I can tell you that Deebo is working tirelessly. He doesn’t like missing games. He doesn’t want to miss this game. And as I’ve told you, with other top-line players, there’s certain guys where if they’re not practicing on Thursday, hey, they’re probably out. That’s not the case with Deebo.
“Deebo’s a guy you wait [for], and that’s what we’ll continue to do, to see that he can get healthy there before [the game]. But we’re not going to put Deebo in harm’s way, either. He’s got to make up some ground, and we’ll see where that ends up at the end of the week.”
The San Francisco 49ers May Turn To Danny Gray In Week 8
With both Samuel and Jauan Jennings missing time during the week preceding Week 8, could the 49ers turn to Danny Gray, their third-round pick out of SMU, to shoulder a bigger role against the Rams? If so, Gray has been studying the playbook looking to fully grasp the complexities of Shanahan’s scheme, as he told the Enterprise-Record.
“This offense, I will say it can get challenging at times,” Gray said. “But the more you study it, and the more you rep it in practice, the faster it comes.”
With just eight offensive snaps to his credit as a member of the Niners, Gray’s on-field experience ranks dead last among wide receivers on San Francisco’s active roster. Still, Gray believes that the work he’s put in on the field in practice with Jimmy Garoppolo could be the key to smoothing out his professional transition.
“I built that trust we have just by taking the top off the defense at practice, getting my depth in my routes, breaking at the right points,” Gray said. “I would say we’ve built a lot of trust.”
For the sake of all Niners fans, let’s hope that their chemistry translates onto the field, as Gray is hungry to record his first catch as a pro.
“Oh yeah, oh yeah, it’s coming,” Gray said. “I don’t really tune into the outside noise. As long as this group of guys sees what I do every day and what I can bring to this offense, as long as the coaches know it, that’s all that matters to me.”
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49ers Provide Key Insight Into Deebo Samuel’s Week 8 Status