'We've squashed it' – Kyle Shanahan gives his take on Deebo Samuel's sideline scuffle with 49ers' specialists
While the San Francisco 49ers emerged with a win at the end of a dramatic contest with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, theirs did not appear to be an overly harmonious camp. San Francisco's win was marred somewhat by a sideline scuffle involving wide receiver Deebo Samuel and specialists Jake Moody and Taybor Pepper […]
While the San Francisco 49ers emerged with a win at the end of a dramatic contest with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, theirs did not appear to be an overly harmonious camp.
San Francisco's win was marred somewhat by a sideline scuffle involving wide receiver Deebo Samuel and specialists Jake Moody and Taybor Pepper after Moody had missed his third field goal of the game.
Samuel shoved longsnapper Pepper and connected with the helmet of Moody, Pepper having seemingly taken exception to the wide receiver's decision to aim some pointed words in Moody's direction.
All parties insisted after the game that the incident was in the past, Moody having recovered from a nightmare day to hit the game winner from 44 yards as time expired.
However, head coach Kyle Shanahan, speaking in his Monday conference call, said he addressed the team about the scuffle.
Asked whether he felt the need to talk with his players about it, Shanahan replied: "I didn't initially, after the game and stuff. I didn't think it was too big of a deal.
"But after getting home and seeing it all on SportsCenter and everything and all that stuff, I wanted to make sure I did. Talked to the guys about it, talked to a number of guys on the team. We squashed it and we're good."
Pressed on whether he is satisfied with where the situation stands, Shanahan said: "Oh yeah, totally. I think it was a little bit overreaction and I don't think, you never want Deebo to throw a baby punch or anything on anybody on our own team, but Deebo also wasn't saying anything bad to Jake, like it sounded. He was meeting him on the field telling him to lock in, the same thing I'll tell to an offensive player who just dropped some balls or made some penalties or something.
"You never sit there and belittle anybody or try to embarrass anyone. You try to challenge guys that you believe in and a way of, that's how we speak to each other and telling someone they need to focus and lock in because we know you can do this.
"And I like Pep's intentions on it, he's got his kicker's back. But I think he kind of interpreted wrong what Deebo was doing to him and overreacted a little bit. And Deebo didn't like that and got him out of his face, and that's really about where it ended."
Shanahan added that none of the players involved will be fined.
It seems as if the hatchet has swiftly been buried, but the incident was a sign of the type of pressure the 49ers are under as they navigate what has been a challenging defense of their NFC title to this point.
Winning is a great cure when such issues arise, but the 49ers will need to win more convincingly against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to create some more positive energy around a team that is in a tougher fight than expected for a place in the playoffs.
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It’s something to monitor.
