49ers rule out Deebo Samuel for opener, Brandon Aiyuk questionable
San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel did not practice this week and has been ruled out of Sunday’s season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, the team announced Friday.
Samuel has not formally returned to the practice field in any capacity since suffering a Jones fracture in June, though his workouts have intensified of late. San Francisco’s top decision makers on Tuesday met with Samuel’s surgeon, Dr. Robert Anderson, to go over recent scans of his foot to discuss the best path forward.
The result was Samuel remaining sidelined, though the team believes Samuel could be available soon.
“We believe he had a good chance to play this week,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “It didn’t go the way we hoped. But he’ll still be day to day going on next week.”
There was good news surrounding the prognosis of rookie receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who returned to practice Thursday after missing time with a hamstring strain Aug. 23 during a training camp practice. Aiyuk is officially listed as questionable for Sunday and getting him back could be a boost for the receiving corps that also lost second-year pro Jalen Hurd for the season last month with a torn ACL.
The team’s healthy active receivers are currently Kendrick Bourne, Trent Taylor, Dante Pettis and Richie James Jr. Bourne was the most productive member of that group in 2019 with just 30 catches for 358 yards, though he tied star tight end George Kittle with a team-high five receiving touchdowns.
Aiyuk, the recent 25th pick in the NFL Draft, proved to be a quick study and was one of the team’s most productive receivers when healthy during training camp. Shanahan said last month he was impressed with Aiyuk’s study habits and preparation to give him a sizable workload in a game despite missing valuable practice reps in his first training camp.
“One good thing is, we usually don’t let guys come back and them in practice until they’ve had a few healthy days before that, so it means he’s going in the right direction,” Shanahan said. “Right now, I feel like he could get through it, we just got to decide on what that (injury) risk is. That’s something that you constantly talk with the trainers about, but it’s also, at this point, something we keep talking to Brandon about. But we’ll make sure that we do what’s best for him.”
Also listed as questionable was center Ben Garland, who returned to practice this week after spraining his ankle early in training camp last month. If Garland can’t play, the 49ers will consider elevating Hroniss Grasu from the practice squad on Saturday. Grasu split practice reps at center during training camp with Daniel Brunskill, who is the favorite to start at right guard.
The 49ers ruled out cornerback Jason Verrett after he missed practice this week with a hamstring injury. That leaves four healthy cornerbacks on the active roster: Richard Sherman, Emmanuel Moseley, K’Waun Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon. San Francisco made cornerback Dontae Johnson one the protected members of the practice squad this week. He has a chance to be elevated to the active roster on Saturday.
Running back Tevin Coleman, who has sickle cell trait, was withheld from practicing in the smokey conditions on Friday. Coleman was dressed and did a solo warm up on the side field away from his teammates while the air quality index hovered just below the 200 threshold that would keep the team from practicing.
Shanahan said Coleman’s status for Sunday is to be determined based on the air quality and it will be Coleman’s decision to play or sit out.
“I know when (the air quality index) is up to 150, that’s when can affect some people with different conditions,” Shanahan said. “It’ll be a personal decision when he gets there. It’s not just an automatic no, similar to when you play in high altitude and stuff like that. ... That’s stuff you got to discuss with the doctor and be comfortable with.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 2:52 PM.