Deebo Samuel likely to miss some regular-season games

Deebo Samuel (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Deebo Samuel (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver Deebo Samuel is expected to miss regular-season games.

It’s been an eventful few days for the San Francisco 49ers with the majority of the news being positive. However, a recent report to come out about wide receiver Deebo Samuel is anything but.

When speaking to reporters on Tuesday, general manager John Lynch made a number of interesting comments, particularly regarding his future and that of tight end George Kittle.

However, while both his comments about himself and Kittle provided positivity, his comments about Samuel had the opposite effect.

Lynch didn’t sound too optimistic when discussing Samuel’s status for Week 1 insisting that there wasn’t a timetable on his return. Below is what he had to say about Samuel’s ongoing rehab.

"“Not going to put an exact timeline on it, but it’s fair to say he may miss some games at the start of the year.”"

This somewhat contradicts what Samuel said about his injury when it first happened a little over a month ago. The second-year wideout insisted that he would be healthy and ready for the start of the season.

Evidently, Lynch doesn’t think that will be the case.

Samuel originally suffered a broken foot back in mid-June during a workout putting a damper on what had been a pretty successful offseason for the 49ers.

The former South Carolina standout shined in his rookie season hauling in 57 catches for 802 yards and three touchdowns. And going into 2020, he’s expected to be the team’s top receiver.

Which 49ers’ receivers will step up while Deebo Samuel is injured?

The 49ers added Arizona State product Brandon Aiyuk in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, but lost veteran Emmanuel Sanders in free agency. If Samuel is forced to miss any significant time, guys like Aiyuk and Kendrick Bourne will be asked to share a bigger load on offense.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan might have to get creative with his receivers while Samuel is sidelined. Fortunately, the team has plenty of faces ready to contribute including players like Jalen Hurd, Dante Pettis, Travis Benjamin, and Trent Taylor among others.

The roster battle at the wide receiver position in training camp should be fierce and with Samuel out, more opportunities will be available.

Next. George Kittle and the 49ers working on contract extension, per John Lynch. dark

Here’s to hoping that Samuel doesn’t miss more than a week or two and that he can prove that his rookie success wasn’t a fluke with another excellent campaign in 2020.