49ers’ Samuel has surgery on broken left foot
Deebo Samuel, the 49ers wide receiver who blossomed into the team’s most consistent offensive weapon at the end of his rookie season, suffered a broken bone in his left foot earlier this week and had surgery Thursday.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported that Samuel was injured “during a throwing session with teammates in Nashville.” Samuel is expected to be sidelined 1216 weeks, Rapoport said.
A 49ers spokesman confirmed the NFL Network report that described it as a Jones fracture, a break of the fifth metatarsal in the foot, and said the team will have a better idea on Samuel’s recovery timetable when he reports for training camp.
Thursday night on Instagram, Samuel posted, “Surgery went perfect.”
Samuel, a secondround pick by the 49ers last season, finished his rookie season with 57 catches for 802 yards and three touchdowns. He also led NFL wide receivers with 159 rushing yards and three TDs.
He started slowly — in six of his first seven games he had fewer than 50 yards receiving — but had three 100yard games in the regular season’s final eight games.
Samuel’s receiving yards were the most by a 49ers rookie since Jerry Rice in 1985 (927) and Samuel’s three 100yard receiving games set a franchise rookie record. Samuel also set a Super Bowl record for rushing yards (53) by a wideout.
The 49ers are scheduled to open their season Sept. 13 against the Cardinals. If Samuel returns after 12 weeks, he would resume practicing in the week before that game.
The 49ers have become familiar in recent years with Jones fractures. Wide receiver Trent Taylor — preparing for his third season a year ago after catching a combined 69 passes in his first two — suffered a Jones fracture in the first week of the 2019 preseason and was done for the year.
In 2014, thenrookie cornerback Jimmie Ward suffered a seasonending Jones fracture in early November. It was the second such injury for Ward, who initially broke the bone while in college.
With Samuel hurt, Emmanuel Sanders having signed with the Saints, and Marquise Goodwin having been traded to the Eagles, the 49ers head into 2020 with Kendrick Bourne (30 catches, 358 yards, 5 TDs in 2019) as their top returning receiver.
The Samuel injury may open the door for Brandon Aiyuk to play a bigger role than had been expected in his rookie season. The 49ers drafted the 6foot, 200pound Aiyuk from Arizona State with their second firstround pick in April, No. 25 overall.
In the seventh round, the team selected Tennessee wideout Jauan Jennings.
The 49ers did sign Travis Benjamin to a oneyear deal in April, but the 30yearold had only six catches in five games with the Chargers last season.