San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed reporters via a conference call on Monday, following the team's 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A notable storyline from the game was a sideline scuffle between wide receiver Deebo Samuel and long snapper Taybor Pepper, who stepped in to defend kicker Jake Moody after Moody missed three field goal attempts.
Deebo Samuel grabbed the neck of long snapper Taybor Pepper and swiped at kicker Jake Moody after a third missed field goal pic.twitter.com/wFIK3p38DR
— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) November 10, 2024
"Normally, I don't even get like that, but just frustrated in the heat of battle," Samuel told reporters after the game. "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."
Shanahan considers the matter settled. Initially, he didn't feel the need to address it directly after the game. However, after seeing the incident heavily covered on television once he got home, he changed his mind.
"I talked to the guys about it, talked to a number of guys on the team, and we squashed it, and we're good," Shanahan said, noting he's satisfied with where things stand now.
"I think it was a little bit of an overreaction," Shanahan continued. "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 them 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. 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.
"I like Pep's (Pepper) intentions on it. I mean, 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 also clarified that his approach to in-house fines wouldn't apply here.
"I fine people for breaking rules," Shanahan explained. "This is just people being football players and dealing with stuff on the sidelines, and I didn't really chalk that up to a big deal at all."
