The biggest question surrounding the San Francisco 49ers ahead of their NFC championship showdown with the Detroit Lions is the availability of wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
The dynamic playmaker left the team’s latest win over the Green Bay Packers with a shoulder injury and never returned, and his status remained up in the air for most of the week as he continued to miss practice.
But on Thursday, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan announced Samuel would practice in a limited fashion just a few days before the conference title game (via NFL Network’s Omar Ruiz and Ian Rapoport).
A step forward… https://t.co/27tbbNegpV
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 25, 2024
Samuel is arguably the team’s most important skill position player apart from running back Christian McCaffrey.
He can make plays anywhere on the field both as a pass-catcher and running back.
When he missed time earlier this year, the 49ers looked like a completely different team and lost a couple of games in the process.
The 49ers could be cautious with Samuel with a Super Bowl berth on the line, but even a less-than-100-percent Samuel is better than nothing.
If Samuel can’t go, though, the 49ers will rely on McCaffrey, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, and tight end George Kittle to fill in the gaps.
A lot more pressure will be on quarterback Brock Purdy as well to bounce back from a questionable game a week ago against the Packers, making Samuel’s presence all the more notable.
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