The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday to end what has turned out to be an excellent 2022 regular season.
There is the opportunity to finish with as high as the first seed in the NFC as well as a 10-game winning streak, but the foremost thing that is likely on the mind of head coach Kyle Shanahan is getting his players ready for what he hopes is a run at the Super Bowl.
Among those players are running backs Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell and wide receiver Deebo Samuel, all of whom are expected to play despite dealing with injuries.
Kyle Shanahan confirms that Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel will play versus Cardinals
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) January 6, 2023
McCaffrey has been limited over the past week due to a sprained ankle, while Mitchell and Samuel have been out because of a sprained MCL and a sprained ankle, respectively.
Some fans don’t want Shanahan to play any of them and instead protect them from further injury, but Mitchell and Samuel need to be gotten back into game shape and rhythm so that they’ll be fully ready for San Francisco’s first postseason game.
In addition, the return of Mitchell will mean a bit of a respite for McCaffrey, whom the Niners have been leaning upon heavily and has had injury problems in the past.
Samuel, meanwhile, has been a large part of their offense, not just in the air but also in the backfield.
After posting 1,405 receiving yards last year, he has had a down season statistically, as he has only 612 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in 12 games this season, but his return will take pressure off Brandon Aiyuk and tight end George Kittle.
