Brock Purdy agrees with Deebo Samuel's take on 49ers wide receiver's recent lack of production
In the wake of the San Francisco 49ers' blowout win over the Chicago Bears, wide receiver Deebo Samuel felt the need to defend himself against apparent criticism regarding a drop-off in his performances. The star wide receiver posted on X (formerly Twitter): "Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!!!!!!" Unsurprisingly, both head coach […]
In the wake of the San Francisco 49ers' blowout win over the Chicago Bears, wide receiver Deebo Samuel felt the need to defend himself against apparent criticism regarding a drop-off in his performances.
The star wide receiver posted on X (formerly Twitter): "Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!!!!!!"
Unsurprisingly, both head coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Brock Purdy were asked about that post during their press conferences ahead of Thursday's must-win divisional matchup with the Los Angeles Rams.
Purdy was particularly supportive of Samuel, indicating he agreed with the assessment of the 2021 first-team All-Pro.
"Deebo and I talk all the time, and he's like one of my best friends on this team," Purdy said of Samuel. "I absolutely love Deebo and what he's done for me and helping me out.
"I think he's right. He's doing great right now with what we ask of him in the offense, and he's not struggling…. There's just moments, I guess, throughout seasons where guys just don't get the ball, just depending on scheme or what the defensive scheme is, and them taking guys away.
"I want to get Deebo the ball every play if I could. I want to have him break all the records as best as possible. I want Deebo to do Deebo things, and we all do in this building. So, that's just how the games have gone. But I love my guy, and I'm going to do everything I can to give him the ball."
Earlier, Shanahan was similarly supportive of Samuel as he expressed a desire to get him more touches.
"Deebo and I talk every day. I understand Deebo saying that," said Shanahan.
"The only way he helps us out is by getting the ball more. We’d like to get it to him more, and we’ll continue to work at that."
He added: "We'd always love things to stay in-house. That's probably why I don't mess with social media. I'm sure I'd get worked up and stuff, too, if I was reading stuff about myself all the time. Then, I'd maybe make a tweet or something. But is it a distraction in our building? No. We gotta answer questions about it. It's the first time I've talked about it is right here.
"But Deebo and I see each other every day and talk about stuff every day, so my advice is to not let outside [noise] frustrate you because just answering those things isn't gonna help you in any way. It usually only hurts you. But as far as what we deal with in our relationships and our team, it's water under the bridge."
Samuel had eight touches in the 38-13 win over the Bears, hist most since the Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, they amounted to just 35 scrimmage yards, though that is also the most he has had since the Bucs game.
Targets in Samuel's direction resulted in minus 0.19 Expected Points Added per play, while rushes averaged minus 0.18. Samuel's frustration in only having 10 touches in the three games prior to the win over Chicago is understandable, but the reality is his touches are not having the same transformative impact they once did.
If he can change that against the Rams and keep the 49ers in the NFC West race, his tweet will be long forgotten.
