Getty Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers.
As the regular season winds down for the San Francisco 49ers, the team’s playoff composition is rapidly coming into focus. Brock Purdy, the winner of the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week award, remains locked in at quarterback, Nick Bosa returned to practice on Thursday after earning a DNP the day before with an illness, and even Deebo Samuel was able to make it back onto the practice field ahead of Week 17, marking his first practice since Week 14.
Samuel’s return to the practice field does not, however, mean he’ll be active for Week 17 against the Las Vegas Raiders. According to David Lombardi of The Athletic, Samuel’s in-game return actually won’t come until Week 18 at the earliest, as the second-round pick out of South Carolina has already been ruled out versus the Raiders.
“The 49ers have ruled out Deebo Samuel for this game against the Raiders, as could’ve been expected,” Lombardi wrote. “But Samuel’s return to practice this week means that he’ll likely be able to work back in versus Arizona to close the regular season so that he’s full-go for the playoffs.”
With the NFC West already won and the first seed in the NFC playoff picture currently held by the Philadelphia Eagles a long shot at best, working Samuel back into the rotation makes a ton of sense for the 49ers, especially with the sheer physicality of Samuel’s style of play.
Kyle Shanahan Comments on Deebo Samuel’s Progress
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Kyle Shanahan complimented Samuel’s efforts in his practice return.
“He did good,” Dhanahan said via 49ers WebZone. “He was able to do individual with us, run a bunch of routes and then finish the rest of it on the side, so he’s getting there and right on schedule.”
When asked if this means that Samuel could return in time for the regular season finale, Shanahan explained what the Niners need to see to give him the thumbs up.
“We’ll see how practice goes, Shanahan said. “He has to do more practice than he did this week, but he’s definitely got a chance to.”
Elijah Mitchell Could Return to the San Francisco 49ers Soon
Another offensive playmaker who has been missing from the Niners’ rotation for some time now is Elijah Mitchell, the second-year running back who landed on IR for the second time in 2022 with an MCL injury. Asked if Mitchell will have his 21-day practice window opened soon, Shanahan provided some interesting insight into the issues his team is having with a bug.
“Yeah, we actually would’ve opened it today or even maybe yesterday, but he’s been home sick the last two days,” Shanahan said. “We’ve had a bug going around, but he was good enough to start practicing today, so we’ll definitely start that next week.”
In Week 17, two players, Bosa and punter Mitch Wishnowsky, missed time with an illness, and apparently, Mitchell has caught it too. Are the Niners experiencing an illness epidemic?
“It’s been a good group, but none are too bad,” Shanahan said. “A couple guys have been out, but they’ve came back and it seems like you get it every time around this time of year, so it’s better now, I feel like, than a few weeks from now.”
Hopefully, the Niners can overcome their illnesses issues, as losing players like Bosa to a stomach bug would be tough to overcome, even in a relatively low-stakes regular season game.