Deebo Samuel got the squeaky wheel treatment in Week 15, but the San Francisco 49ers star failed to capitalize on the opportunities. One franchise legend feels that the way everything played out was a bad look for Samuel.
Samuel hinted at some frustration with San Francisco’s coaching staff last week when he wrote on social media that he is not getting the ball enough. Kyle Shanahan then made an effort to get the ball into the wide receiver’s hands in Thursday night’s 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Samuel finished with just 3 catches for 16 yards on 7 targets.
Samuel also committed arguably the biggest blunder of the game. He dropped a perfectly thrown ball from Brock Purdy that should have resulted in a touchdown. Instead, the Niners had to settle for a field goal to take a 6-3 lead midway through the third quarter:
The Deebo Samuel noise is going to get a lot louder after this third down drop… pic.twitter.com/PhXVptCivh
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) December 13, 2024
Jerry Rice was asked about the Samuel situation during a Monday appearance on 95.7 The Game. The Niners legend had some blunt criticism for Deebo.
“That ball that he dropped, after you complain about not getting that many touches, you cannot drop the football,” Rice said, as transcribed by Taylor Wirth of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Because everybody is going to get down on you and they’re going to come after you. I never said anything about not getting touches or anything like that. I just worked, man. I just kept working, and if you show it during practice, they’re going to make the call during the actual football game where you’re going to have opportunities, where you can make catches, get into a rhythm and be productive.”
Samuel has now had 22 or fewer receiving yards in five consecutive games. San Francisco’s offense has struggled as a whole, but he certainly had chances to impact the game on Thursday. While the rainy weather was a factor, he should have been laser-focused after all the attention his social media complaint got.
There were some rumblings during the offseason about the 49ers moving on from Samuel. We would expect more rumors in the coming months after the way the year has gone for both Samuel and the team.
