Deebo Samuel hospitalized with pneumonia as 49ers injury nightmare deepens

Add Deebo Samuel to the list as the decimation of San Francisco’s locker room continues. The star wideout has been hospitalized with a “pneumonia-like illness,” according to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.Samuel, who has 20 receptions for 335 yards and two touchdowns on the season, first began dealing with symptoms on Sunday morning in the hours leading up to San Francisco’s Week 7 showdown against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.A game-time decision, the wide receiver ultimately decided to suit up but took himself out of the contest after only three offensive snaps.

Before the end of the second quarter, Samuel was seen heading to the locker room accompanied by a 49ers trainer. As Shanahan would later reveal, the All Pro wideout was struggling to breathe.Now hospitalized, the coach confirmed Samuel has fluid in his lungs. When it rains it pours.

This, though, is more akin to a monsoon for the 3-4 49ers.Fellow wide-receiver Brandon Aiyuk was carted off the field during the second quarter of Sunday’s 28-18 defeat after suffering a gruesome knee injury. The worst was confirmed on Monday: a torn ACL and his season is over.Heading into their 2024 Super Bowl rematch against Kansas City — which San Francisco went on to lose by a score of 28-18 — the Niners were already short weapon-wise. Jauan Jennings, who had outproduced Samuel through the first quarter of the season, was out with a hip injury sustained a week prior against the Seattle Seahawks.And, of course, Christian McCaffrey is still yet to see the field in 2024.

The three-time Pro Bowl, two-time All Pro, 2023 AP Offensive Player of the Year dealing with Achilles tendinitis in both of his legs. Shanahan told reporters on Monday that he would be “surprised” if McCaffrey was ready in time for the 49ers’ Week 8 matchup on Sunday against the Cowboys....