There’s getting a boost and then there’s this. San Francisco’s offense has leaned on Deebo Samuel about as much as any offense has leaned on one player this season.
On Sunday, Samuel will return to face the Cincinnati Bengals. His presence was missed immensely last week, in the 49ers’ 30-23 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, when he sat out with a groin injury. Since drafting him, the 49ers are 4-8 in games in which he doesn’t play, and including last year’s loss to Washington when he was injured on the first play.
He practiced for the first time in two weeks on Friday, so there is a question of whether he’ll be used how he was in recent weeks, which was largely as a running back.
The 49ers still have issues, though, with Emmanuel Moseley sent to injured reserve and Dontae Johnson out with a personal issue. That means a rookie — Ambry Thomas or Deommodore Lenoir — will start against a Cincinnati offense with three outstanding receivers. They’ll also be without rookie standout Elijah Mitchell. Below is the full list of inactives:
- CB Dontae Johnson
- LB Dre Greenlaw
- RB Elijah Mitchell
- DT Maurice Hurst
- LB Tyrell Adams
- OL Colton McKivitz
Cincinnati, meanwhile, will get a boost of its own, with running back Joe Mixon (illness) and Tee Higgins (ankle) both active after being listed as questionable.
Here’s their inactives list:
- LB Markus Bailey
- LB Logan Wilson
- HB Chris Evans
- WR Trenton Irwin
- OL Fred Johnson
- DE Khalid Kareem
- DT Tyler Shelvin
A win over the Bengals would improve the 49ers to 7-6 and likely move them back to the sixth Wild Card spot, assuming Washington trailing 24-0 to Dallas, loses that game.