The San Francisco 49ers may have taken down the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, but as has happened several times already this season, they lost a wide receiver in the process. Deebo Samuel left the game with a hamstring injury, and the team has to prepare for the possibility that he will be out for several weeks.
The depth chart is getting even thinner, and Christian Kirk's extended absence has become even more alarming.
Kirk has barely even suited up for the Niners since signing with the team this offseason. The hope was he'd be a veteran threat in space who could add some depth to the wide receiver ranks, but he got injured almost immediately with a calf strain in training camp and has not been able to do much since then.
Even though that injury occurred months ago, head coach Kyle Shanahan still did not feel optimistic about Kirk's availability for next week's game against the Washington Commanders, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.
49ers have to scratch Christian Kirk of list of possible WR reinforcements
Injuries are obviously tricky. Maybe Kirk had some sort of setback as he's tried to get back on the field, but for him to be out this long with means this injury might linger a lot longer than previously thought, and the Niners simply cannot count on him to come back at some point.
That's why general manager John Lynch needs to be active ahead of the November 10 trade deadline to ensure the team has enough wide receiver depth to not only make it through the season, but hopefully to make a run in the playoffs.
The Niners should get other receivers like Demarcus Robinson and De'Zhaun Stribling back before the end of the season, but if this team has learned anything in recent years, it is that a team can never have too much depth, so expect them to get a player who ensures they have another solid player in the mix.
Maybe Kirk will get healthy and can start practicing soon, but the Niners cannot just bank on his return at this point. He's clearly dealing with something that has taken a lot of time to get over, so they need to start thinking about other options out there and may just have to roll with a veteran like Brandin Cooks in the short term before Lynch can pull off some sort of trade.
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