Samuel (shoulder), who was officially listed as a non-participant at Wednesday's walkthrough practice, was seen working on a side field and took part in full-speed sprints during the portion of the session open to the media, Matt Barrows of The Athletic reports.
Prior to the 49ers taking the practice field, head coach Kyle Shanahan told David Lombardi of The Athletic that Samuel wouldn't take part in Wednesday's session, but the wide receiver was "feeling better" after making an early exit from the 49ers' divisional-round win over the Packers due to a left shoulder injury. Though Samuel avoided any structural damage after previously suffering a microfracture of the same shoulder in Week 6 and missing the 49ers' ensuing two games, the 49ers are reportedly viewing the wideout as having a "50-50" chance of playing in Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Lions, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. Samuel still has two more chances to mix into drills this week, including Thursday, when San Francisco will hold a more traditional practice. Wideouts Jauan Jennings (5-61-0 receiving line on six targets), Chris Conley (1-17-0 line on one target) and Ray-Ray McCloud (1-7-0 line on two targets) stepped up alongside starter Brandon Aiyuk after Samuel missed the entire second half of the divisional round.