San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters on Saturday via a video conference call after the team conducted its first practice of training camp. He was asked about his second-year wide receiver, Deebo Samuel, and the timeline of his recovery from the Jones fracture he suffered in June.
Samuel has stated that he plans to be ready for Week 1 of the regular season. Although, there have been scattered reports that say that timeline may be optimistic.
It sounds like Shanahan might agree, or he's very cautiously optimistic.
"The way I kind of see it in my mind ... I think we're hoping for Week 1 (but) not counting on it," Shanahan said. "But I think that's kind of the area that these injuries usually heal by. But a lot of it has to do (with) are you ready to play, is it fully healed by that time, are you in football shape?
"Deebo's going to do everything he can to be in shape, but it's hard to be in football shape until you can play football. So, how many practices do we get him in here before Arizona? That's going to all go into play, but I'm hoping for Week 1 but not sure yet. It's a little too early."