The San Francisco 49ers will have one of their premium offensive weapons ready for Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the Detroit Lions. Star wide receiver Deebo Samuel was removed from the Niners’ injury list, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Samuel has missed time with an ongoing shoulder injury, leading to some hopeful speculation that he wouldn’t be able to play. The Niners upgraded his workload from out on Wednesday to limited on Thursday. Friday’s practice was enough to convince Shanahan that Samuel doesn’t require any injury designation for the game.
Samuel was third on the 49ers, behind Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle, with 89 passing targets. He caught 60 of those, netting 892 yards and scoring seven TDs. Samuel also ran the ball 37 times for 225 yards and five more touchdowns.
The shoulder injury could limit Samuel’s usage in the run game. However, video clips from 49ers practices during the week showed what sure looked like an unlimited Samuel as a receiver. Hence his removal from the injury list…