Deebo Samuel tried to walk off the field after going down and grasping at his leg in the second quarter of the San Francisco 49ers' 35-7 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, he couldn't walk and returned to the ground.
The 49ers bench emptied as a cart arrived. Teammates approached Samuel, who sat on the cart, offering their support of the star wide receiver before he was taken to the locker room for further evaluation. Samuel was clearly emotional as he left the game.
The good news is that the 49ers are reportedly optimistic that the injury isn't season-ending. Jordan Schultz of The Score reported that Samuel's injury is not considered serious. However, he will still undergo further tests to make sure.
Early indications are that #49ers WR Deebo Samuel did not suffer a serious injury, sources tell @theScore. I'm told the First-Team All-Pro WR badly twisted his ankle, but the team is optimistic he's okay. Deebo will undergo more tests as a precaution.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) December 11, 2022
After the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that Samuel did not sustain an ankle fracture, which is really good news for the receiver. Instead, the belief is that Samuel "most likely" suffered a high-ankle sprain. Nothing is certain yet, but the 49ers are grateful that nothing is broken.
"It was definitely concerning on the field," defensive lineman Nick Bosa admitted. "It looked pretty bad. I don't know much about it. I hope that he's all right. He's tough as hell. He tried to walk off. But yeah, I'm just hoping for the best."
While the win over Tom Brady and the Buccaneers is nice, there is obviously a concern for Samuel.
"In that moment, I'm just thinking about Deebo," linebacker Fred Warner said after the game. "I'm sad for him. It sucks to see one of your brothers go down like that, and obviously, he knew the gravity of the situation, and I want to be there for him. ... I'm hurt for him."
Warner added that Samuel's injury added another level of focus to the team. The players wanted to play for their fallen teammate.
"It's always tough to watch somebody go down, especially a guy that's in your room," wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk told reporters after the game. "Anybody going down, it's tough. But we had a task to go out there and complete."
Aiyuk said he and others spoke to Samuel at halftime. What did the injured receiver say, and what was he going through emotionally?
"It's Deebo," Aiyuk said. "He's not going to give you too much."
Aiyuk led the team with two receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown. Running back Christian McCaffrey had a game-high 119 rushing yards and two touchdowns, one on the ground and another through the air. Everyone stepped up in Samuel's absence.
"Seeing Deebo go down, seeing [QB] Jimmy [Garoppolo] go down (last week), it's brutal," McCaffrey said. "It's part of this game. You hate to see it, but our guys stepped up, and that's important. You can't replace that guy, so that's even more important that everybody steps up and does their job at a high level and eliminates mistakes.
"I'm praying that it's not anything too serious and that he can come back and join us."
It's yet another injury to a key player, which has been a trend this season. However, the 49ers keep rolling and has now won six consultive games, improving their record to 9-4. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw was asked if the 49ers have become oblivious to these injuries with so many occurring this season.
"We're definitely not oblivious to it," Greenlaw said. "Just we hate to see guys go down. ... Whenever you see a guy that's down, especially one of our leaders, like Deebo—sometimes in life, there's [stuff you can't change]. You've just got to go with the punches and just keep fighting, and that's what everybody on this team did. That's just the type of team that we got."
