Prior to 49ers destroying their chances of returning to the postseason with a tough 12-6 divisional loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, San Francisco star pass-catcher Deebo Samuel made his desire to get the ball more known on social media with a flurry of posts.
Samuel, 28, wrote in a since-deleted post, "Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!!!!!!!" in response to criticism about his production being down in 2024.
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Niners coach Kyle Shanahan clearly heard what his star had to say and designed a game plan that heavily involved Samuel and even featured a throw from Brock Purdy to the WR on San Fran's first pass of the game. Sadly for Samuel, he dropped it.
Things went from bad to worse for the squeaky wheel as Purdy greased him with a throw with San Fran facing a third-and-4 from the L.A. 35-yard line. With nothing but running room and a wide-open end zone in front of him, Samuel dropped the ball again.
"Real, very frustrating," Samuel, who ended his night with three catches for 16 yards on seven targets, said afterward, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "At the end of the day, catch that ball, there's nothing there but end zone. I got to catch that rock. Just like seeing the moment, came across the middle and saw nothing but the end zone. At the end of the day, got to load the ball and go score."
A Hall-of-Famer who knows a lot about scoring after actually catching the ball and did it an NFL-best 197 times over the course of his career, Jerry Rice, joined 95.7 The Game's The Morning Roast on Monday and discussed Samuel's struggles.
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"I would have been pissed," Rice said. "I would have been pissed at myself, I would have been pissed at the whole scenario, and I would pretty much go to work on the football field, at practice. And if you do it during practice, you're going to be able to do it during the game."
Not exactly a hot-take artist, Rice continued.
"That ball that he dropped, after you complain about not getting that many touches, you cannot drop the football," he said. "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."
Quality production is something Samuel is still striving for this season as he has just 43 receptions on 71 targets for 569 yards and one touchdown in 13 games.
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