The 49ers will have a key piece back for Sunday’s home NFC Championship game.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters Friday that wide receiver Deebo Samuel is now off the injury report and is expected to go against the Lions.
“It’s huge,” Shanahan said, per NFL.com. “A little scary at the beginning of the week, but the fact he was able to go full-go today and no restrictions on him is definitely a good thing for us.”
Samuel injured his shoulder early in last week’s divisional round win over the Packers, and he was held out of practice Wednesday and limited Thursday.
But after giving it a go Friday, Samuel will give things a go with a ticket to the Super Bowl on the line.
Samuel’s presence in the lineup should be a welcome sight for the San Francisco lineup, which largely struggled without him in the 24-21 win against Green Bay.
On the whole this season, the 49ers’ offense has gone as Samuel has.
When he was out of the lineup in both Weeks 7 and 8, the 49ers only scored 17 points in each game, both losses.
In those two games, quarterback Brock Purdy combined for two touchdowns and four interceptions.
But in games that Samuel took at least 50 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, the 49ers went 12-1, only losing to the Ravens — the top seed in the AFC — on Christmas Day.
Without Samuel for a majority of the divisional playoff game, the Purdy was mostly held in check at 252 yards and one touchdown.
Samuel snagged two catches for 24 yards before he left the game for good.
A weapon in the passing and rushing attacks, the 28-year-old caught 60 passes for 892 yards and added 225 yards on 37 attempts on the ground.