SANTA CLARA, Calif. – San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle are trending toward playing against the New England Patriots on Sunday, while the 49ers plan to start ramping up running back Christian McCaffrey’s rehab, coach Kyle Shanahan announced Friday.
San Francisco lists list Samuel, who missed the Week 3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams with a calf injury, as questionable on the injury report. Samuel practiced Thursday and Friday and appears ready to return to the lineup. Kittle (hamstring) and quarterback Brock Purdy (back) practiced in full Friday and have no injury designation.
As for McCaffrey, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have said recently the initial part of the running back’s recovery was simply resting his sore Achilles, something the ever-active McCaffrey had trouble doing previously.
“We needed to quiet it down,” Lynch said on his weekly spot on KNBR radio Friday. “So the plan was to give it the time to do that.”
The next step is to see whether that rest had an effect, something they’ll begin doing next week.
We’d like to start hitting his rehab harder on Monday,” Shanahan said.
San Francisco placed McCaffrey on injured reserve just before its Week 2 game against the Minnesota Vikings, meaning he is eligible to resume practicing after the Week 5 game against the Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers have not committed to a timetable on when McCaffrey will come off of IR.
“God willing, the thing has quieted down and we can build him back up in a really smart and thoughtful way,” Lynch said. “We’ll take the necessary time for that. How much (time) it takes, I don’t think anyone knows right now.”
Both men also noted McCaffrey’s nature is to look into all sorts of alternative and cutting-edge treatments. Lynch indicated McCaffrey’s recent trip to Germany to get treatment on the Achilles was McCaffrey’s idea – “Christian knew of someone there,” Lynch said – and one San Francisco consented to.
“He does a ton of research,” Lynch said. “He works as hard as anyone that I know. He reached out to us and we blessed (the plan) and we’ll leave it that.”
Other injury news on Friday was not as positive.
Shanahan said linebacker Curtis Robinson suffered a torn ACL in Thursday’s practice, which will cause him to miss the rest of the season. He’s the second defensive player the 49ers lost for the regular season in four days. Starting defensive tackle Javon Hargrave tore a triceps Sunday in Los Angeles and would only be available to return if San Francisco made it deep into the playoffs.
The week’s practices also left tackle Trent Williams with a toe injury, safety Talanoa Hufanga with a sprained ankle and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott – who is Hargrave’s replacement – with a foot injury. Williams and Hufanga did not practice Friday while Elliott was limited. All three are listed as questionable for the Patriots game.
“He came in this morning with it sore.” Shanahan said of Williams’ toe. “It acted up a little bit in practice yesterday and it was just too sore for him to go today.”
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
