49ers George Kittle has sprained knee, Deebo Samuel suffers setback
The news isn’t great surrounding two of the 49ers’ most important pass catchers, tight end George Kittle and receiver Deebo Samuel.
First, on Kittle, head coach Kyle Shanahan said testing Monday revealed a knee sprain and it’s uncertain if the star tight end will practice Wednesday, which means his status for Sunday’s road game against the Jets is unclear.
The injury came to Kittle’s left leg, the same leg in which he chipped a bone in his ankle and popped a capsule in his knee that cost him two games last November. Kittle left the game Sunday just before halftime after a bad throw from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo led to Kittle leaping, getting tackled by safety Budda Baker and hyper-extending his knee. He returned for the second half.
Kittle had a team-high four catches for 44 yards during the first half of the loss to the Arizona Cardinals, but no catches after halftime. Shanahan said he didn’t believe the injury was the reason for his lack of production in the passing game after the break.
“He came back and did a hell of a job in the second half that had nothing to do with his stats and stuff,” Shanahan said. “That has more to do with how they playing and the people they were putting on him. When that happens, you got to go different directions. But no, we were happy with Kittle and when he tells you he’s alright, you look at him and watch him move, he was good to go in that game.”
Regarding Samuel, he suffered a setback last week in his recovery from his broken foot, Shanahan said Monday, which was the impetus for being placed on injured reserve over the weekend.
Shanahan last week said he thought Samuel was close to playing against Arizona, but then he didn’t practice and the move to IR made him ineligible to play until Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the setback, the team is hoping to have Samuel for that game Oct. 4.
“We didn’t think it was a setback because he was just real sore after running one day. But the (soreness) never got better,” Shanahan said. “It just got worse and worse after one specific day. Usually after one day when it was sore, we thought it was just because he worked it hard. But when that got worse each day and not better, we knew it ended up being a little bit of a setback.”
Shanahan said the team initially wasn’t allowed to put Samuel on injured reserve because he sustained the injury during a workout away from the team’s facility in June. But the NFL ruled that because he had a setback while rehabbing in Santa Clara he would be eligible for injured reserve, allowing the team to open a roster spot, which it has yet to fill.
On the bright side for San Francisco’s patchwork receiving corps, first-round pick Brandon Aiyuk is expected to be available this week, Shanahan said. Aiyuk returned to practice last Thursday after missing more than two weeks with a hamstring strain and was ruled out shortly before Sunday’s game.
The passing game was clearly an issue for San Francisco in the Week 1 upset loss. Receivers Kendrick Bourne and Trent Taylor combined for just four catches for 41 yards while starter Dante Pettis had zero catches on just one target. Garoppolo connected with wideouts on just 4 of 11 targets.
To potentially solve the issue at receiver, the 49ers will consider adding free agent Mohamed Sanu, who played for Shanahan with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. Sanu was released by the Patriots earlier this month after acquiring him from Atlanta for a second-round draft pick last season.
“I love Sanu, he’s a hell of a player, so him being out there is always a possibility,” said Shanahan. “But I wouldn’t rule that out at all. He’s available and he’s a guy I really respect, and I think everyone in this league respects, so we’ll see how it goes this week.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 4:54 PM.