Who Should I Start? Deebo Samuel Sr. or Brian Thomas Jr.

Thursday, October 15, 1:47 PM

San Francisco 49ers veteran wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (hamstring) was not seen in the portion of practice open to the media on Thursday, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN. Samuel suffered a hamstring injury in the Week 5 win over the division-rival Seattle Seahawks that is expected to sideline him for multiple weeks, so it should not come as a big surprise that he is not practicing on Thursday. The good news for the 30-year-old pass-catcher is that head coach Kyle Shanahan said that the team will hold off on placing Samuel on Injured Reserve due to the team's bye in Week 8. Going on IR would have sidelined him for at least four games. With that said, fantasy managers should still be expecting Samuel to miss several games, so he might not be available again for the 49ers until Week 9. San Francisco's receiving corps is the most banged-up unit around the league, with veteran Mike Evans (Achilles, ribs) holding down the fort while battling through multiple injuries. With Samuel set to miss the Week 6 contest on Monday night against the Washington Commanders, veteran Brandin Cooks and Jacob Cowing will be much more involved, as well as tight end George Kittle.