49ers rule out Deebo Samuel (hamstring) in Week 9

Neither Samuel nor Mike Evans (Achilles) was seen at the practice, and the same goes for Christian Kirk (knee). Kirk still has a chance to play, but it seems very unlikely that Brock Purdy will have Samuel lined out wide for Week 9 against the Raiders. His next chance to play will be Week 10 against the Cowboys, barring something unforeseeable.

Lynch said the same about Mike Evans. Samuel hasn’t played or practiced since going down with a hamstring injury in Week 5. It’s unclear when he will return to the field. The fact that the 49ers didn’t place him on injured reserve when he suffered the injury suggests they expected him to miss fewer than four games. Week 9 will be his third absence.

Samuel remains sidelined by his Week 5 hamstring strain. He still has a chance to resume practicing in time to face the Raiders this weekend, but it would have been nice to see him take the field today. The 49ers were on bye in Week 8.

None of these comes as a surprise. All of Bosa, Evans, and Samuel were already ruled out earlier in the week, and Sigle has missed multiple weeks with an ankle injury. Brandin Cooks and Christian Kirk are likely to lead the 49ers’ pass catchers against the Falcons this week, and both are worth adding in deeper formats in case either emerges as a legit weapon while Evans (Achilles) and Samuel (hamstring) are sidelined.

Samuel hasn’t practiced since injuring his hamstring in the latter stages of Week 5’s win over the Seahawks. He’ll get the Week 8 bye to heal up. It does seem like there’s at least some chance he could get active for Week 9.

Neither did Mike Evans, who is dealing with Achilles tendinitis. These absences shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Evans is expected to miss Week 7 after aggravating his Achilles issue on Monday. Samuel is expected to miss “at least a couple of weeks” and has been sidelined for just one game so far. Jordan Watkins and Brandin Cooks are in line to start for the 49ers this week. What a time to be alive.

Samuel will be forced to miss Week 6 with a hamstring injury sustained in the team’s Week 5 win over the Seahawks, leaving the team extremely thin at wide receiver. They could get a small boost with Christian Kirk a candidate to be activated from injured reserve ahead of Monday’s game, although Mike Evans is also listed as questionable.

The 49ers have a Week 8 bye and thus Samuel would stay on injured reserve an extra week. Reading between the lines, it sounds like Samuel has a chance to play in Week 9 if things go well. Shanahan added that Demarcus Robinson (ankle) could return for Week 9 as well.

Shanahan confirming this will be a multi-week absence isn’t surprising, but we still aren’t clear on just how much time he could miss. We’ll likely get a more specific timeline in the days ahead, but it sounds like we can safely assume Samuel will miss Week 6’s game against the Commanders and Week 7’s game against the Falcons. Jacob Cowing and Brandin Cooks could both be in line to see more work in the weeks ahead, with Cooks perhaps being the favorite to get the first crack at replacing Samuel. Cooks’ 11 routes run in the second half of Sunday’s game led all 49ers, including Mike Evans, and he found the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the Niners ahead with just over 11 minutes left in regulation.

The MRI will help determine the severity of Samuel’s injury, but the 30-year-old receiver is likely looking at a multi-week absence after he was quickly ruled out of Sunday’s game. Samuel has caught 16 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns this season for the Niners while adding another 78 yards on nine carries. He seems unlikely to play in Week 6 against the Commanders, which means we could see an increased role for either Jacob Cowing or Brandin Cooks, who scored in Week 5’s win over the Seahawks.