Deebo Samuel Held Out Of Practice Wednesday with Hamstring Issue

Add another 49ers playmaker to the injury report as wide receiver Deebo Samuel did not practice Wednesday with a hamstring injury.

Samuel, 26, cited a hamstring issue during Week 7’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Pro Bowl player was able to finish the game before reporting more soreness Monday upon returning to the team’s facility. Head coach Kyle Shanahan was direct with his statements regarding Samuel Wednesday, only acknowledging that he’s made progress with the injury.

“Making progress,” Shanahan said bluntly to the media Wednesday.

#49ers Practice Report
DNP
Deebo Samuel (hamstring)
Dre Greenlaw (calf)
Kyle Juszczyk (finger)
Arik Armstead (foot)
Jauan Jennings (hamstring)
Samson Ebukam (Achilles)
Trent Williams (rest)

Limited
Jason Verrett (knee)

— Amiliano “Amil” Fragoso (@AmilianoFragoso) October 26, 2022

Joining Samuel on the DNP list are a plethora of players, including linebacker Dre Greenlaw (calf), fullback Kyle Juszczyk (finger), defensive tackle Arik Armstead (foot) and left tackle Trent Williams (rest). All players listed have injuries from Week 7, or prior, except for Williams, getting his usual veteran rest day to start the week.

Cornerback Jason Verrett is also limited to start the week after being activated off the PUP list Wednesday.

49ers opened practice with Star Wars music from the end of “A New Hope” …. Coincided with Jason Verrett’s first day back on the active roster pic.twitter.com/UjaGSfd1Fk

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) October 26, 2022

The team’s focus now turns to the Los Angeles Rams, meeting them for a second time this year Sunday afternoon. A rivalry game by nature, San Francisco always seems to put their best foot forward against a divisional foe, partially because the Bay Area crowd travels so well. SoFi Stadium is typically covered in seas of red during this matchup, and the players and coaches have definitely noticed.

“One of the coolest things I’ve seen in sports,” Shanahan stated. “Home field advantage is a big deal in the NFL because of crowd noise and you don’t have to worry about that as much on the road is huge. And when you actually can get the crowd noise, [it] doesn’t happen very much but it’s, it’s a big deal.”

Another advantage the 49ers will have is the continued incorporation of running back Christian McCaffrey into the offense, finally able to get a full practice week in with his new team. CMC was featured in only a handful of plays Sunday, reaching just over 20 snaps with 48 hours of prep. He finished the day with 64 yards from scrimmage on 10 touches.

Now with a full slate of practice ahead of him, Shanahan said that the playbook will start to open up for him this week, but that the challenge is learning the verbiage.

“It’s a real challenge for anybody, but you got to work at it. And he did that a lot in the 48 hours he was here to be a part of it last week and I’m not worried about him doing it this week too,” Shanahan said.

McCaffrey was the feature back for the Carolina Panthers since being drafted in 2017, appearing in 85 to 86% of the snaps during his tenure with the team. Now in more of a running back committee, there isn’t a set number of plays that he’ll be featured in going forward, still figuring out the relationship between both the player and the organization.

“It’s something that you feel out once you get to know people, you get to know your team, you get to know a player, you get to know his backups, Shanahan explained. “I try to get to know the athlete and how they play throughout a game and how we use them and how you balance people out and that’s usually how we do it.”

To watch Kyle Shanahan’s full presser, click here.

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