Deebo Samuel Confirms Intentions to Play in 49ers’ Season Finale Despite Clinching NFC’s Top Spot

Deebo Samuel Confirms Intentions to Play in 49ers’ Season Finale Despite Clinching NFC’s Top Spot

Deebo Samuel made his intentions clear: He plans to play in the 49ers’ season finale against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Speaking on “Up and Adams” with Kay Adams on Tuesday, Samuel said the 49ers’ offense will continue as if it’s a regular game, even though they’ve already clinched first place in the NFC. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has yet to decide which starters will play, but Samuel gave the impression last Sunday that the offense wants to keep the momentum going as they shut out the Washington Commander 27-10.

“You sure want to keep your strength up,” Samuel said. “But you also want to rest your body. I feel like we’re going to be playing this game for a long time to make the career last and it won’t be too long.” Christian McCaffrey is already sidelined with a calf strain, but is expected to return for the playoffs. “We’re very confident about that, and that was good news,” Shanahan said Monday. “It could be a lot worse.

We’ll take care of him this week and hopefully he can go on our vacation week.” Ambry Thomas and Arik Armstead will also be shut down on Sunday.

Armstead has missed the last four games with a foot injury. “We’re going to continue to rest him and get him ready for the playoffs,” Shanahan said. Samuel said the rest of the 49ers are working hard at practice this week to “keep building.” “We haven’t played our best ball yet,” he said.