Deebo Samuel’s shoulder injury leaves his status for Sunday’s NFC Championship game as a coin flip.
That’s the latest update as of Monday morning, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Samuel as “50-50” for the game, six days before the San Francisco 49ers are set to host the Detroit Lions for the right to play in Super Bowl 2024.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on X Monday that there’s “guarded optimism” for Samuel because he did not suffer a fracture like he did in Week 6, an injury that cost him the following two games, both of which were 49ers losses.
But despite the fact that Samuel’s injury doesn’t appear to be significant, Rapoport added that Samuel is “up in the air” for Sunday’s game.
Samuel, 28, was injured in the first quarter of the 49ers’ playoff win over the Packers on Saturday night and did not return; he had two catches for 24 yards before departing.
His absence had a major impact on the 49ers’ offense as they trailed 21-14 entering the fourth quarter and were down by four until Brock Purdy showed signs of life late, leading a 12-play, 69-yard drive that culminated with Christian McCaffrey’s second touchdown run of the game, a 6-yard rush with 1:07 left to put the Niners ahead.
The Packers had a chance to tie the game as they took over with all three of their timeouts, but on first-and-10 at their own 36-yard line, Jordan Love threw into triple coverage and was intercepted by Dre Greenlaw for the second time in the game to end it.
Samuel, who is in the first season of a three-year, $71.5 million contract, had 60 catches for 892 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games during the regular season, adding 225 yards rushing and five more scores.
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