San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel got back on the field on Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. It was his first in-game action since Super Bowl LIV. Samuel suffered a Jones fracture in June and could not even practice with his teammates until last week.
Samuel missed the final two practices this week, but not due to a setback with his foot. It was due to an illness. These days, there is a cause for concern whenever someone shows any illness symptoms, so Samuel had to stay away from the facilities.
So far, one test has returned negative for COVID-19. Samuel needs to pass one more test before he's allowed to rejoin his teammates.
"Deebo's good," head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Friday. "He was on Zoom in our meetings today. He says he has no symptoms, feeling great. He's got one more test to pass. I think he did it today. We'll get the results tomorrow on that, and then he should be allowed back in our building."
Samuel is listed as "questionable" for Sunday's game, indicating a good chance he will be available should today's test return negative for COVID-19.
"Deebo, he was sick," Shanahan continued. "Just a little achy. I think he might have had a fever at night. Especially with flu season coming up, that's going to be common, but if you have symptoms, you're automatically out of the building I think for at least two days because you need to pass two tests to confirm it's not COVID. But anyone that's been around you also needs to be out for those two days."
The coach remembers there were 12 people sick last season during the 49ers' playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings.
"We're going to have to deal with that stuff as it goes," Shanahan added. "Hopefully, we'll get some luck with it."