Niners WR Deebo Samuel better, but SNF status unclear

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Less than a week after he was in the hospital with symptoms of pneumonia, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel is feeling much better, though his status for Sunday night remains up in the air.

Samuel, who checked out of a local hospital on Tuesday afternoon following an illness that revealed fluid in his lungs, made it through practice on Thursday and Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said the team has been cautious with Samuel this week as he works to rebuild his stamina.

"It's gotten better each day," Shanahan said. "We've gone slow with him. We didn't push him that hard knowing what the issue is, but it has gotten better each day and that's why I'm hoping that continues for Sunday."

The Niners could certainly use Samuel, especially considering they will still be without two other key wideouts. Jauan Jennings was ruled out for the second consecutive week as he deals with a hip injury, and Brandon Aiyuk landed on injured reserve earlier in the week with a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee.

Speaking to media for the first time since he fell ill last week, Samuel said his experience was a bit frightening.

"It was scary because it was kind of hard to breathe for real and you can't take deep breaths," Samuel said. "So, in the midst of that I'm just like, what's going on? And then we found out what was going on after the game."

Samuel first began feeling sick late Saturday night and into Sunday morning before last week's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. He attempted to play in that game despite missing most of warmups because he could tell something was off.

On Friday, Samuel said he had "no energy to run or anything for a while," and when he went to the locker room to get an IV, it didn't do much to help. He attempted to play against the Chiefs but was in for four snaps before his day was over.

From there, it was discovered that Samuel was dealing with fluid in his lungs, which led to him checking into the hospital on Sunday night.

"I have hospital anxiety," Samuel said. "I don't like being in the hospital, but whatever it took for me to get better, I'm all for it ... I was just in there chilling and really getting all the treatment that I needed."

Samuel stayed in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon, and though he didn't participate in practice Wednesday, he was doing some running and conditioning on the side during the portion of practice open to media.

On Thursday afternoon, Samuel was back to practice on a limited basis and then followed a similar plan for Friday's session. Samuel said Friday he feels "pretty good" and had a "pretty solid" week of practice but didn't want to make any proclamations about the likelihood he will play against the Cowboys, saying only "we'll see."

Samuel isn't the only key Niner with a questionable designation for Sunday. Tight end George Kittle (foot), cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (illness) and safety George Odum (knee) are also questionable.

Like Samuel, Odum and Kittle were limited in practice on Thursday and Friday after not participating Wednesday. Lenoir was a new addition to the injury report on Friday.

Elsewhere on the injury report, the Niners ruled out kicker Jake Moody (right ankle sprain) and defensive tackle Kevin Givens (groin) in addition to Jennings.

Shanahan also said the team is hopeful that safety Talanoa Hufanga, who is on IR with torn ligaments in his wrist, can return this season, though that's not a sure thing.

"I know he's trying to come back this season," Shanahan said. "That's what his plan is. That's his hope and I know he's got a few more weeks at least on IR. We're going to see how he feels after that."