49ers' Deebo Samuel will play in NFC championship game against Detroit Lions

Deebo Samuel will play in the NFC championship game against the Detroit Lions, the San Francisco 49ers announced Friday afternoon.

Samuel, 28, was a full participant in Friday's practice and is off the injury report after exiting last week's game in the first half with a shoulder injury. He had 60 receptions for 892 yards and seven touchdown catches this season in 15 regular season games, and rushed 37 times for 225 yards and five scores as a do-it-all piece in coach Kyle Shanahan's offense.

Samuel was asked Friday during his news conference if he'd play as physical as he normally plays but try to protect himself.

"I ain’t protecting nothing," he interjected.

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The last time the two teams met came in Week 1 of 2021 at Ford Field in the first game under Lions coach Dan Campbell. Samuel burned the Lions defense for a career-high 189 receiving yards, and ran past cornerback Jeff Okudah for a 79-yard touchdown in the third quarter of a 41-33 Niners win with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback. (Samuel did have a key fumble late which allowed the Lions to get the ball back down eight, but they could not capitalize.)

On the Lions' side, center Frank Ragnow will play despite an assortment of injuries, but they will be missing left guard Jonah Jackson with a knee injury suffered in last week's divisional win over Tampa Bay. Return man Kalif Raymond will be out for the third straight game with a knee injury.

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The game is set to kick off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern in Santa Clara, California at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers are 7-point favorites over the Lions.

The Lions are 0-1 in NFC championship games, having last played in one in the 1991 season and losing 45-10 to Washington. The Lions are the only NFC team to never play in a Super Bowl. The Lions' last playoff road win came 66 years ago in one of the NFL's greatest comebacks, fittingly at San Francisco.

The 49ers, meanwhile, have the clear postseason experience edge — except at quarterback — playing in a fourth NFC title game in the past five years, and going 1-2 in the previous three (1-0 at home).

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Deebo Samuel will play in NFC championship game against Detroit Lions