If you blinked, you might have missed Dante Pettis on Sunday. The second-year wide receiver was in on just two snaps during the San Francisco 49ers' regular-season opening victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and finished the game with a single catch for seven yards.
San Francisco used a second-round draft pick on Pettis last year. The expectation was that the wideout would be a significant part of Shanahan's offense this season. So why was the No. 44 overall pick in the 2018 draft in on only two plays?
Shanahan jumped on a conference call with reporters on Monday afternoon and was asked if Pettis' groin injury was the reason for his limited play or has the receiver been overtaken by rookie Deebo Samuel, who was in on 60 offensive plays, on the depth chart?
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"No, it's definitely not Deebo's job. It's not anyone's right now," Shanahan responded. "That's something I kind of talked about all preseason. No one's really taken that role.
"Dante got a setback with his groin injury (referring to the original injury, not a new setback) where he just missed some time in practice. So that gave him a little bit of a setback leading into Week 1, which made it easier for Deebo to start over him.
"We went in knowing Deebo was going to get more playing time, but I definitely didn't plan on Dante only getting two reps. He should have been in more than that. That starts with me, and I'll make sure not to let that happen again."
Added Shanahan: "Dante had some setbacks throughout camp, which has made him a little bit behind the 8 ball but I am very confident in the ability of Dante, and I know he'll get there. I'm just trying to be patient."
Pettis recorded 27 catches for 467 yards (17.3 average) with five touchdowns through 12 games and seven starts as a rookie last season.
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