SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers began their week of practice on Wednesday without any of their top four pass catchers, although one of them, Deebo Samuel Sr., was working out on an adjacent field.
Samuel spent two nights in the hospital earlier this week after coming down with a case of pneumonia, but he seemed to be in good spirits Wednesday and was seen shooting hoops in the locker room and running sprints on a side field.
Samuel tried to play against the Kansas City Chiefs, had trouble breathing, left the game and was admitted to the hospital Sunday night. He was discharged by Tuesday afternoon. Shanahan on Wednesday said the receiver was “doing better than you’d expect with that stuff” and that he had a chance to play against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
“We’ll see how he does throughout the week,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers’ top wide receiver, yardage wise, at Wednesday’s practice: Jacob Cowing with 50. (Though Deebo Samuel (335) makes an appearance in this clip). pic.twitter.com/FugozWQDO5
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 23, 2024
Samuel had plenty of company in the training room.
Jauan Jennings, who missed Sunday’s game with a hip injury, also was absent on Wednesday. So was tight end George Kittle, the team’s leading pass catcher with 404 yards, as he deals with a foot sprain. Meanwhile, the 49ers placed Brandon Aiyuk (ACL, MCL tears) on injured reserve, officially ending his season.
Samuel, Kittle and Jennings are expected back, if not for the Cowboys game, then after the Week 9 bye. The question for the rest of the season is how the 49ers will proceed without Aiyuk, their split-end receiver who led the team in big plays and receiving yards last season.
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One option is Chris Conley, who was limited in Wednesday’s practice with a sprained ankle.
Conley was Aiyuk’s fill-in at split end during Aiyuk’s contract holdout in the spring and summer. He’ll turn 32 on Friday and is the 49ers’ oldest wide receiver by four years. But he’s still one of the team’s fastest players and came up with big catches in last year’s playoffs, including an 18-yard grab in the Super Bowl.
Conley, however, hasn’t gotten many opportunities this year. He’s been targeted five times with just one catch for 4 yards. And he noted that despite practicing exclusively at split end in training camp, he’s barely played there since Aiyuk’s signed his contract.
Asked where he might line up now, Conley said, “It really depends on what Kyle wants and what they see from the defense we’re going up against and the matchups they like.”
Another option is rookie Ricky Pearsall.
He went into Sunday’s game preparing to play one position, Jennings’, but ended up playing far more — 48 snaps, a team high among the wideouts — and lined up in spots he hadn’t studied as much.
“He hasn’t practiced a lot,” Shanahan said. “He knows how to do it on paper and stuff, but just like everyone, you need a lot more reps to be able to do all three spots. But he did a good job adjusting in the game. … You’ve got to be prepared (to be the) next man up and he didn’t have any busts at the new position.”
If Pearsall ends up taking the lion’s share of the snaps at split end this season, it will fit a 49ers’ theme for 2024.
Shanahan doesn’t usually like playing rookies, but he’s had no choice this year. For example, two veteran right guards were injured in quick succession in late July, thrusting rookie Dominick Puni into the lineup. An ankle injury to Talanoa Hufanga in Week 4 allowed another rookie, Malik Mustapha, to start. Eight rookies got snaps in Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs.
Pearsall on Wednesday said he knew the 49ers had a strong rookie class after watching the group in training camp, albeit from the sideline because Pearsall was dealing with a hamstring, then later, a shoulder injury. Now it’s his turn to step forward.
Said Pearsall: “I think Malik actually came up to me and said it perfectly: ‘You’re the cherry on top of everything.’”
Odds and ends
• The 49ers used Aiyuk’s former roster spot to promote defensive tackle Evan Anderson from the practice squad. The 49ers had used a pair of temporary elevations on Anderson earlier in the season and he performed well in the two games in which he played.
The team also signed offensive lineman Dieter Eiselen and receiver Malik Turner to the practice squad. Turner spent part of the 2022 season with San Francisco and was on hand at the beginning of training camp this year before being placed on IR. A special teams standout, Turner could be used as a punt return gunner, especially if current gunner Conley ends up playing more snaps on offense.
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• Samuel, Jennings and Kittle weren’t the only 49ers who missed Wednesday’s practice. Tackle Trent Williams (resting player), defensive tackle Kevin Givens (groin), safety George Odum (knee) and kicker Jake Moody (ankle) also sat out.
Conley, defensive end Nick Bosa (elbow) and running back Jordan Mason (shoulder) were limited.
• Shanahan said Mustapha’s tackling ability — specifically how hard he hits — stood out in Sunday’s game. He said it was something he could hear on the sideline.
“Yeah, you can hear it, you can see it,” he said. “He’s one of those guys that — we call it a sprint-tackle. You have a long stride to eat up the grass and a short stride to kind of hit guys, and he’s just long stride. He kind of goes right through them and there’s one speed. And that’s the best way to tackle guys, as long as you don’t miss.”
• For the second straight week, the 49ers will be playing a team coming off its bye. That will happen two more times this season — in Week 11 (Seattle Seahawks) and Week 13 (Buffalo Bills).
“I think we’re in similar spots — two teams that need to right the ship and get on a better trajectory,” Bosa said of the 3-3 Cowboys. “They’re coming off the bye, we’re heading into it after this. So they want to get going and start the second half of their season the right way. And we want to go into the bye feeling good about where we’re at. So it’s going to be a tough one. They’re going to throw everything they can at us. I think they’re going to try to run the ball more than they have. “
(Photo: Cary Edmondson / Imagn Images)
