49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel was discharged from the hospital after leaving Sunday’s game with an illness, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic.
Samuels played just four snaps in San Francisco’s Week 7 loss to the Chiefs before leaving the game and going to the hospital once team doctors determined he had fluid in his lungs. Samuel was diagnosed with pneumonia and remained in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon, according to Cam Inman of the Mercury News.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan declined to offer a timetable for Samuel’s return, telling media, “We’ll see how he recovers here over these next couple days,” per Inman.
The 49ers will certainly be hoping that Samuel recovers quickly to fill the void left by Brandon Aiyuk‘s season-ending ACL tear suffered during the loss in Kansas City. With Christian McCaffrey still sidelined, an extended absence from Samuel would leave San Francisco without three of their top four playmakers on offense moving forward. Jauan Jennings has performed well when called upon, but he missed Week 9 with a hip injury that could keep him out for longer.
Shanahan was already looking to rookie Ricky Pearsall to step up after his activation from the Non-Football Injury list last week, and the first-round pick will be even more important to the 49ers offense in the event that Samuel misses time. George Kittle will take on a larger role as well after securing catching 81.0% of his targets for the second-most receiving yards by a tight end this year.
Luckily for the 49ers, they have just one game before their Week 10 bye: a Sunday night matchup with the Cowboys, who have allowed the sixth-most rushing yards per game this year. Shanahan will be able to rely on his fifth-ranked rushing attack to exploit a weak Dallas front and keep pace in the NFC West before getting his playmakers back after the bye.