49ers place WR Deebo Samuel on IR

Updated Sep. 12, 2020 4:55 p.m. ET

Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have placed starting receiver Deebo Samuel on injured reserve.

The move made Saturday means Samuel will miss at least the first three games of the season. Samuel broke his foot during informal offseason training with teammates in June.

He sat out all of training camp and was activated from the non-football injury list last Saturday. General manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan had hoped Samuel would be ready for Week 1 but they have decided to wait. The first game Samuel is eligible to play will be in Week 4 on Oct. 4 against Philadelphia.

Samuel caught 57 passes for 802 yards and three TDs last season and also made big contributions in the running game. He had 14 carries for 159 yards and three scores.

Samuel then made a big impact in the postseason with 10 catches for 127 yards and six runs for 102 yards in three games. He had five catches for 39 yards and three carries for 53 yards in San Francisco’s 31-20 loss to Kansas City in the Super Bowl.

Rookie Brandon Aiyuk is questionable for Sunday’s opener against Arizona with a hamstring injury. The team’s healthy receivers for the opener are Kendrick Bourne, Dante Pettis, Trent Taylor and Richie James Jr.

The NFL is also monitoring the air quality because of the wildfires throughout Northern California. The Air Quality Index in Santa Clara at 1 p.m. on Saturday was 184, which is below the 200 threshold set by the league.

San Francisco also promoted offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu and cornerback Dontae Johnson from the practice squad.

Center Ben Garland is questionable this week with an ankle injury and cornerback Jason Verrett is out with a hamstring injury.

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