Kyle Shanahan: Deebo Samuel ‘worse this week’ but isn’t being ruled out of 49ers-Cardinals

San Francisco 49es wide receiver Deebo Samuel was on last week's injury reports due to a calf injury. He was also on this week's injury reports with the same injury. Earlier in the week, head coach Kyle Shanahan said it was an injury that the 49ers would try to continue managing.

Samuel did not practice on Wednesday and was listed as "limited" on Thursday and Friday. San Francisco listed the receiver as "questionable" for Sunday's NFC West clash with the Arizona Cardinals. Shanahan spoke to reporters again after Friday's practice and was asked if Samuel is worse than last week.

"Yes, he's worse this week," Shanahan responded. "I mean, he was able to go out there today, which he wasn't yesterday, but today was a half-speed day, so I think if we went full-speed, it would have been, probably, tough for him."

Officially, San Francisco listed Samuel as a limited participant on Thursday, so Shanahan saying he couldn't go must mean his participation was minimal.

Reporters noted that Samuel doesn't look like he's preparing to sit out Sunday's game, based on the observations from the open portions of practice.

"Deebo, he never is," Shanahan said. "I mean, Deebo is a guy that, if it's possible for him to play, he will. That's why you've got to communicate with him a lot. I understand his personality and what he wants. He also understands what it means if he does play and he can't last through it or he has to go out after two series or something. I'm glad we've got two more days to decide that, though."

Samuel also spoke with reporters, saying that he plans to continue rehabbing over the next two days and see how things feel on Sunday. The receiver was asked if he feels the injury is worse this week.

"It was, but as days went by, it kind of gets better day by day," Samuel responded. "So, we've just been taking it slow, and [we'll] see how it goes."