The 49ers got a little bit of rough injury news during Friday’s practice with the Chargers. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel exited the session early with muscle tightness. Head coach Kyle Shanahan told KNBR 680 in San Francisco that the receiver will have an MRI on what the club believes is a gluteal injury.
“Deebo, he had a tight glute today,” Shanahan said. “So he pulled himself out of practice and then he’s getting an MRI right now. So, I’m in the same boat you guys are. I’m sitting here waiting to get the news back.”
There’s a chance they could be looking to determine the exact location of the ailment before working on treatment. Losing Samuel for any length of time would be a significant blow to the 49ers’ offense, which is already short on wide receivers.
Samuel played in 15 games his rookie season, but last year dealt with multiple injuries that limited him to just seven games. In a receiving corps where he and Aiyuk are the two best options by a wide margin, his absence would handcuff a lot of what they do in the run game and short-area passing game.
According to all reports from camp, Samuel was putting together a nice preseason and looked primed to bounce back after his injury-riddled 2020 campaign. There’s no timeline for his return, although MRI results should give a better indicator of when he’ll be back in action.
The 49ers can afford for him to miss the last couple preseason games. They can’t afford to have him out for regular season contests.