The San Francisco 49ers secured a last-second win in Week 10, but not before serious frustration from WR Deebo Samuel led to a sideline altercation.
In his first game back after an IR stint, 49ers K Jake Moody made three field goals, including the game-winner. He also missed three field goals. After his third miss, Samuel was filmed arguing with Moody and long-snapper Taybor Peppers.
Things got concerning though, as Samuel reached for Peppers’ neck on the sideline. You can see the moment here. In the team’s post-game interviews, Samuel downplayed the moment as “frustration.”
“Normally, I don’t even get like that, but just frustrated in the heat of battle,” Samuel said. “You know, really close game, and I kind of got out of character a little bit. But I’ll talk to Moody, and we’ll get past it…At first, I wasn’t saying nothing like crazy to him. I was just kind of frustrated at the time. But he went out there and won the game and he wasn’t bothered by it. So we’ll move past it.”
Samuel was also asked about Peppers and explained it as the long-snapper defending a close teammate.
“He just came over and wanted to be big bro.”
Kyle Shanahan Speaks on Moment
In his post-game press conference, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan explained that he was aware of the moment. But like Deebo, Shanahan doesn’t believe that the moment will have long-term issues.
“I don’t have much of a take because I didn’t see any of it, I just got told about it,” Shanahan said. “Probably an obvious one. Guy is frustrated… Brother scuffle a little bit. I didn’t see any of it so I don’t know how bad it was but something I’m not too worried about. We’ll fix it. If it hasn’t been fixed already, we’ll fix it on the plane and go back to loving each other tomorrow.”
Shanahan is clearly biting his tongue a bit due to not having all the info on the moment. However, Samuel is known for his competitive personality and knack for confrontation. For Shanahan and the 49ers, something like this isn’t really a surprise.
Samuel Has Solid Day for 49ers
While they won’t be too happy with Samuel getting physical with his teammate, they can be happy with what he provided on the field.
Deebo caught five passes for 62 yards, while also running for 14 yards on three touches. Perhaps one of the reasons why Samuel was so frustrated after Moody’s third missed field goal was that it was preceded by his biggest play of the game.
After starting at their own 39-yard line, 49ers QB Brock Purdy hit Samuel for a 32-yard pick up with less than 5 minutes in the fourth quarter. The following four plays was a bit of a disaster, as the Niners were stopped in their tracks and Purdy nearly lost a fumble as well.
Moody then missed the 44-yard try, giving Tampa Bay a chance to tie or win the game with less than 2 minutes remaining. They marched all the way down to the red zone, but the San Francisco defense came up with a big stop to then give Moody another opportunity for a game-winner.
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