When Christian McCaffrey went down, the 49ers could take solace in the fact that they had another versatile and dynamic weapon in Deebo Samuel.
For the next two games, the 49ers will be without both as Samuel reported to work with a calf strain that coach Kyle Shanahan said would likely keep him out two weeks.
That means the 49ers will face the Los Angeles Rams on the road and then host the New England Patriots without both McCaffrey and Samuel. It’s a body blow to a team that has struggled to get into the end zone in their first two games of the season.
“Injuries from the game, just one new one — Deebo ended up having a calf strain,” Shanahan said as he opened his conference call Tuesday with local writers. “He’ll probably miss a couple of weeks. That’s it.”
That’s it?
Samuel led the 49ers with eight receptions for 110 yards with along of 28 in Sunday’s 23-17 road loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He also had two carries which lost 10 yards.
With McCaffrey out with Achilles tendinitis for at least three more games and possibly more, part of the plan was to feed Samuel, both in the receiving game and the run game. Now that’s not possible.
“He told me he thinks he did it on the third to last play, they had a blitz in the red zone, he caught the hot route breaking in, he says he thinks he did it on that play,” Shanahan said.
Since McCaffrey arrived last in 2022, it will be the first time Shanahan has coached a game with both players sidelined.
“Always when you lose real good players it’s tough, but it happens all over the league,” Shanahan said. “It’s a huge part of this league and a huge part of this game. Gotta deal with it.”
The 49ers’ next opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, learned they have lost wide receiver Cooper Kupp with their other top wide receiver Puka Nacua already on injured reserve. The Rams have a number of other injuries to key players.
Related Articles
Inman: 10 things that caught my eye in 49ers’ road opener at Vikings
With McCaffrey out, 49ers’ defense needed to step up. Instead, it took a step back
49ers report card: No ‘A’ grades for this losing effort in Minnesota
Sam Darnold got aggressive to beat the 49ers and Brock Purdy at their own game
Want to beat 49ers? Just follow Vikings’ blueprint
Snap judgements
70–The number of offensive snaps for the 49ers. Every offensive lineman took every snap in a game in which the 49ers gave up six sacks.
54–The number of defensive snaps for the 49ers. Warner, Ji’Ayir Brown and Deommodore Lenoir took every snap. Charvarius Ward had 53 snaps.
46–The number of snaps for edge rusher Nick Bosa, the most of any of the defensive lineman.
26–Snaps taken by defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos in his 49ers debut. Had no tackles, one quarterback hit.
20–The number of special teams snaps taken by linebacker Curtis Robinson, who did not play a down on defense.
More to come on this breaking story . . .