After one year in Washington, wide receiver Deebo Samuel has returned to San Francisco. And 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk couldn’t be happier about that.
Juszczyk, who was in San Francisco for all six of Samuel’s seasons on the 49ers, said that Samuel was a great teammate in the past and is already showing that he’s a great teammate again.
“Deebo’s the best. He’s such an incredible teammate. He’s such a good friend. He’s an incredible football player,” Juszczyk said. “So we’re really happy to have him in the locker room just because he brings the best vibes, and positivity, but we’re also happy to have him on the field because he’s still got juice and he can still go out there and make big plays. He came in, he looks like he’s in phenomenal shape. His first day in pads he’s making an impact right way. He just looked like the old Deebo, so I can’t say enough positive things about how excited we are to have him.”
The 49ers traded Samuel to the Commanders last year, and when he returned to the 49ers last week, he said it felt like he never left. Juszczyk agrees.
The 49ers receiving corps has been hit by several injuries early on in camp, but one veteran may be back on the field sooner rather than later.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network noted that Mike Evans’ quad strain does not appear to be serious.
“It does seem like something that could get resolved relatively quickly, just by the term ‘strain,’” Rapoport said on Inside Training Camp Live, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “It generally relates to a minor-type injury, and Mike Evans, he’s been through training camps, been through a lot of training camps, certainly is someone who does not need the reps. They’re going to give him probably a lighter load anyway, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he misses some practice time.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he is able to go sooner rather than later, but make no mistake, this has been one of the big storylines of their training camp.”
Rapoport later referred to Evans’ injury as “not too serious, but certainly something we’re going to keep an eye on” when talking about the 49ers’ larger injury issues.
San Francisco has already lost Ricky Pearsall for the season while De’Zhaun Stribling and Christian Kirk are also dealing with injuries.
Evans signed a three-year deal with the 49ers as a free agent in March.
49ers rookie defensive end Mikail Kamara, who was carted off the practice field Saturday, was diagnosed with a torn ACL, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
The 49ers waived Kamara with an injury designation on Sunday, and he will revert to the team’s injured reserve list once he clears waivers.
Kamara went undrafted out of Indiana, where he was named Defensive Player of the Game in last season’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game. He played six years for coach Curt Cignetti, four at James Madison and two more after transferring to Indiana when Cignetti became the Hoosiers’ head coach.
The 49ers were expecting Kamara to compete for a roster spot as a pass rusher and a special teams contributor.
Another 49ers wide receiver is dealing with an injury.
Mike Evans is not practicing on Monday due to a quad strain. There’s no word about how long Evans is expected to be off the field due to the issue.
The news comes a couple of days after rookie De’Zhaun Stribling was sidelined by hamstring tightness. Stribling is also out of practice on Monday.
Christian Kirk has missed several practices after injuring his calf early in training camp and the 49ers put Ricky Pearsall on season-ending injured reserve with a PCL injury that will require surgery.
The 49ers brought Deebo Samuel back in the wake of Pearsall’s injury and they may need to make further tweaks to the receiving group if the injury news doesn’t get better soon.
The 49ers made a handful of roster moves on Sunday.
They have signed running back Khalil Herbert and defensive lineman Titus Leo to their 90-man roster. Defensive lineman Mikail Kamara was waived with an injury designation and cornerback Eli Apple was released.
Herbert ran 16 times for 52 yards in seven games for the Jets last season. The 2021 sixth-round pick spent his first three seasons with the Bears and split the 2024 season between Chicago and Cincinnati.
Leo had four tackles in four games for the Patriots in 2024. He spent time on the Eagles’ practice squad last season.
The NFL’s daily transaction report for Sunday shows that the Niners also hosted linebackers Andre Carter, Ogbo Okoronkwo, and Xavier Thomas for workouts.
