San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has kept his team in the fight for the NFC West title. But he had to address some in-fighting on the sidelines involving star wide receiver Deebo Samuel on Wednesday, handing Samuel some advice moving forward.
Samuel got spotted confronting placekicker Jake Moody about missing his third field goal during the Sunday win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Long-snapper Taybor Pepper stepped in to defend Moody. However, the scene escalated with Samuel appearing to grab at Pepper’s throat.
Shanahan addressed the matter with the media in Santa Clara. The head coach’s advice?
“Regardless of what happens, you don’t throw a punch,” Shanahan said. “And you see what happens when that happens.”
Samuel settled for five receptions and tallied 62 yards. Moody eventually hit the game-winning field goal to lift the 49ers to the 23-20 road victory.
Samuel won’t face internal discipline for his role in the scuffle. He also won’t face NFL action. Still, the sideline altercation emerged as a major topic for Shanahan’s presser and across the league.
49ers’ Kyle Shanahan addresses if Deebo Samuel ‘overreacted’
Shanahan first told reporters during a Monday conference call that he believed Pepper overreacted. But did he believe Samuel pulled the same action?
“Yeah, You can’t throw whatever type of punch that was, you can’t do that,” Shanahan began.
He later stated Samuel “wasn’t saying anything bad to the kicker.” However, “Taybor was overprotective of the kicker, which I like his intentions, but he misinterpreted it, and he got too close to Deebo, which was irritating to Deebo. And there were other ways he could have got him out of his face instead of the way he did, but there was nothing between Deebo and Jake.”
Despite the heated moment, the 49ers appear to have buried the scuffle in Tampa. Pepper took to Instagram to share, “We are on to Seattle,” while adding, “Left the beef in Tampa, and the focus is winning a divisional game this week.” Samuel admitted after the win via ESPN 49ers insider Nick Wagoner that he “kind of got out of character a little bit.”
The 49ers have a big NFC West showdown against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. A Seattle win catapults the Seahawks back to second place in the division race. San Francisco will shoot for a season-best third-straight victory. The 49ers are already a 6.5-point favorite to knock off their longtime NFC West nemesis.
