In a surprising turn of events on Saturday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that a CT scan showed the team's star wide receiver, Deebo Samuel, suffered a hairline fracture in his shoulder during Week 6's battle with the Cleveland Browns. The injury sidelines the dynamic playmaker for at least two upcoming games (Vikings, Bengals).
The team remains optimistic about Samuel's return after the bye week, when the 49ers face the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Shanahan will have to adjust his game plans, lacking his versatile player capable of lining up outside or in the backfield.
"Yeah, all running backs can do that role, and then we use the receivers to do his role that he does as receiver," Shanahan told reporters. "Deebo is a pretty unique player, and not many people are like him in the league, so it does change things up, but we've got a bunch of good receivers and a bunch of good running backs."
Despite Shanahan's confidence, FOX Sports insider Jay Glazer remains convinced that replacing Samuel won't be straightforward.
"I don't think anybody replaces him," Glazer told Dave Helman on the NFL on FOX Pod. "You don't replace Deebo Samuel. No. ... And people almost just assume, okay, well, I know it's a next-man-up game, but there's certain people you just can't step up for and replace.
"And they're banged up. Trent Williams is banged up. Christian McCaffrey, he's banged up, even though he's going to play in this game, they're still banged up there. But a guy like Deebo, no, you don't replace him."
Would the 49ers look to add help should Samuel's recovery process take longer than expected? One interesting tidbit during the podcast came when Helman asked Glazer if the Niners would opt to work with their existing roster rather than seek a trade.
Glazer responded, "Well, listen, the 49ers, you just look at certain GMs, you know they're aggressive. John Lynch is aggressive, [Eagles GM] Howie Roseman is aggressive. There are certain guys who are just going to be aggressive and call around everywhere, and those are two of the guys who are calling around everywhere."
It's worth noting that Lynch calling around the league wasn't necessarily prompted by Samuel's injury. The 49ers have admittedly been exploring possibilities as the October 31 trade deadline approaches.
"Yeah, I think this time of the year, it's just a lot of phone calls with other teams," Lynch said during a radio interview last week. "Where are you guys at? What are you looking for? Who's available? So it's a lot of those things, and then you start to hone in on, okay, in the right situation, these are the guys we'd like to have.
"And so it's just a lot of communication with other teams. I think we've got a proven track record. I think we've got a proven track record. We're not afraid to be active, and if it can help our team, I think the one thing, we've remained relatively healthy, number one. Number two, we got a pretty deep and talented roster already."
Of course, that was before learning that they would be without Samuel for at least the next couple of games.
Lynch added, "We'll continue to monitor, continue to communicate, and if we can make a difference on this team, we will."
