All 49ers

49ers WR Deebo Samuel (Calf) Is Active Against the Patriots

Good news for the 49ers.

Grant Cohn

Sep 15, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) catches the ball against the Minnesota Vikings safety Josh Metellus (44) in the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
Sep 15, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) catches the ball against the Minnesota Vikings safety Josh Metellus (44) in the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
In this story:

Good news for the 49ers.

Deebo Samuel officially is active for today's game against the New England Patriots. Samuel missed last Sunday's loss to the Rams after injuring his calf late in the 49ers' Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. It's unclear how much he'll play or if he's 100 percent healthy, but his presence only will help the 49ers win a game they can't afford to lose.

Before Samuel went down, he was the 49ers' leading receiver. He caught 13 passes for 164 yards in two games. But he's averaging a mere 4.2 yards after the catch per reception this season -- by far the lowest of his career. Last season, he averaged a whopping 8.8 yards after the catch per reception.

In addition, Samuel has gained just 13 rushing yards on 10 carries this season and he has broken just one tackle. So he hasn't been the explosive playmaker he was in the past. And now he's coming off a calf injury. Fortunately for the 49ers, they're playing on grass this week. If the game were on artificial turf, I'm guessing Samuel wouldn't play.

The 49ers have lost the past three games that Samuel has missed, so his return is a big deal. If the 49ers could lose to the Rams without Samuel, they absolutely could lose to the Patriots without Samuel. Now the 49ers should be expected to blow out New England and make a statement to the rest of the league that they're still a dominant team.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Home/Game Day