49ers news: Deebo Samuel will miss a couple of weeks with a calf strain

The injury bug continues to bite the San Francisco 49ers. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said that wide receiver Deebo Samuel will miss “a couple of weeks” with a calf strain. Samuel played the entire game, so it’s unclear when he sustained the injury.

Shanahan said, “He thinks he did it when he caught the third to last play” because there were only a couple of other plays that Samuel was in after that. To me, Deebo played one of his better games in recent memory. I asked Shanahan if he agreed, and he said that Samuel made a few nice catches and looked good but was better last week against the New York Jets.

Samuel had 23 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving last week. Against the Vikings, a zone-heavy team, he caught eight passes for 110 yards. That will be nearly impossible to replace, especially with Christian McCaffrey out and Ricky Pearsall on the Injured Reserve.

More than ever, the 49ers need the receiver; they paid a whole lot of money over the next few games. Brandon Aiyuk told reporters he’s about 85 percent. Shanahan clarified that comment, saying he believed Brandon was talking about his play.

Talanoa Hufanga is nearing his return. Shanahan said, “He’s looking good. He’s had two good weeks. Had a real good week last week. Hopefully, we can get him in the game this week, and he has three real good practices.”

The 49ers’ plan was to rotate Malik Mustapapha in with George Odum. this week. Mustapha played 31 snaps compared to Odum’s 23. Shanahan said the decision to sub Mustapha in was not related to the touchdown early in the game.

Hufanga’s awareness and feel for the game are at a different stratsophere than those two. His presence has been sorely missed.