Samuel and Warner to miss Seattle game
Two players who do so much for the 49ers won’t be doing much of anything for at least a week.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said versatile wide receiver Deebo Samuel (groin) and All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner (hamstring) are expected to miss one to two weeks after they were injured in a 34-26 win over the Vikings on Sunday. They will sit out Sunday’s meeting with the Seahawks in Seattle but have a chance to return when they visit the Bengals on Dec. 12.
Shanahan suggested he exhaled when he learned of both players’ MRI results.
“I think (it) was very good news considering what it could have been,” he said.
The news came a day after Samuel said he didn’t have “too much concern” because he went down as soon as he felt his groin tighten on a carry that lost 6 yards in the third quarter. Samuel missed one game with a groin strain as a rookie in 2019 and told Shanahan his current injury felt similar.
It will be difficult for the 49ers to adequately replace Samuel, who is enjoying a nearly unprecedented year. After 11 games, he has become the third player in NFL history to have 1,000 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns in a season. The other players in that group: 49ers running back Roger Craig (1985) and Rams running back Marshall Faulk (1999).
Against the Vikings, Samuel became the 49ers’ first 1,000yard receiver since Anquan Boldin in 2014 and the only wideout in franchise history to have two rushing touchdowns in a game.
Asked about the void without Samuel, Shanahan pointed to the emergence of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, along with presence of All-Pro tight end George Kittle and leading rusher Elijah Mitchell. Kittle and Mitchell have combined to miss six games this season.
“He’s been a big part of our offense,” Shanahan said of Samuel. “But I think we’re in a spot now that we can overcome that.”
Meanwhile, Warner, a team captain who relays the defensive signals, will be sidelined for the first time after opening his career by starting in 59 straight regular-season games. Warner is the most significant, but he’s hardly the only 49ers linebacker who might not be available against the Seahawks. Marcell Harris is in the concussion protocol, and Dre Greenlaw (groin) is day-to-day after Shanahan said he had an “irritation” of the injury that required him to have core muscle surgery and miss nine games.
Greenlaw played against the Vikings, his first game since the season opener, but he left in the second quarter after logging just 13 snaps. The 49ers’ only healthy linebacker on their 53-man roster is Azeez Al-Shaair. They have one linebacker, Tyrell Adams ,on the practice squad. More injuries: Pass rusher Dee Ford (back) returned to practice last week, but he wasn’t activated from injured reserve to play against the Vikings. Ford has missed the past five games.
“We tried him out last week,” Shanahan said. “We hoped to ease him in a little bit and hoped he’d be able to go. He wasn’t able to. So we’ll try the same plan this week and see if it does better.”
Shanahan said rookie running back Trey Sermon will “most likely” be placed on injured reserve, forcing him to miss at least three games, because of a severe ankle sprain suffered against the Vikings. Defensive tackle Kentavius Street (sprained wrist) is dayto-day.