49ers consider star WR '50-50' for NFC title game

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

The San Francisco 49ers narrowly defeated the Green Bay Packers 24-21 in the divisional round of the playoffs to earn a trip to the NFC title game. However, their win may prove costly to their Super Bowl aspirations.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the 49ers are considering it “50-50” as to whether star WR Deebo Samuel will be able to play in Sunday night’s NFC Championship Game against the Detroit Lions.

Samuel suffered a shoulder injury in Saturday night’s win over the Packers and missed most of the game. And although he seems to have dodged a major injury, his status is still up in the air, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

“My understanding is there is no fracture in the shoulder of Deebo Samuel, which is good news. It was the same shoulder he injured last time,” Rapoport said. “As far as the actual status going forward, that still remains up in the air. … He has been telling people he thinks that he’ll be ‘OK.'”

Samuel suffered a hairline fracture in the shoulder in Week 6 and missed a few weeks. If he had suffered a similar injury, his 2023 season would likely be over.

That is good news for San Francisco as its offense is much better when Samuel is on the field. During the regular season, the 49ers averaged 7.1 yards per play with Samuel on the field and averaged 5.7 yards per play when he was not.

The fifth-year wide receiver is clearly a key piece to the offense as the third-leading rusher (225) and receiver (892) on the team.

TE George Kittle knows the offense isn’t the same without him and is hoping he’s available come Sunday.

“Deebo is a fantastic football player,” Kittle said. “He’s amazing, especially the things that we ask him to do. … So, am I concerned about him not playing next week? Yeah. We’re a different team without Deebo.”

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