49ers: Deebo Samuel to return to practice next week

San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver Deebo Samuel is set to return to practice next week.

There may not be a more injured team in the NFL right now than the San Francisco 49ers. Amidst all the drama with injuries in Week 2, no team was hit harder than the 49ers who experienced an unprecedented string of injury misfortune.

But at the very least, the latest update regarding injured wide receiver Deebo Samuel provides a tiny glimmer of optimism.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters on Friday and he gave updates for a variety of injured players. The vast majority were not so promising. The Deebo Samuel update, however, was quite the opposite.

Shanahan told the media that Samuel will likely return to practice next week after seeing the progress he’s made with his rehab in recent days.

"“I’m optimistic he’ll be back next week. He had a real good week, last week hitting the rehab hard with all those guys. Just being able to watch him work out on the side, he looks real good running routes and he’s been able to do it without pain.”"

The 49ers will hope to return Deebo Samuel in the near future.

Samuel was been sidelined since late June when he suffered a Jones fracture in his left foot working out prior to training camp. He would go on to miss the entire summer and was placed on injured reserve a day before the team’s season opener knocking him out for the first three weeks.

After originally hoping to return in time for Week 1, now Week 4 seems like a more probable return. That said, Shanahan didn’t commit to playing Samuel next week, only that he expects him to return to practice in some capacity.

Samuel traveled to West Virginia this week to continue his rehab process with the 49ers as they await in the Eastern Time Zone between games against both New York franchises.

The likely return of Samuel in the near future is great news for a 49ers team dealing with a slew of injuries at the moment. The likes of Tevin Coleman, Dee Ford, Jimmy Garoppolo, Dre Greenlaw, George Kittle, and Raheem Mostert have already been declared out for Sunday’s game.

They join players such as Richard Sherman, Nick Bosa, and Solomon Thomas who have already been placed on IR.

It’s been a difficult season for San Francisco so far. But here’s to hoping that the return of Deebo Samuel can at least ease the pain from the team’s other injuries.