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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In the moments after his team’s last-second win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t necessarily feel the need to address what took place among wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., long snapper Taybor Pepper and kicker Jake Moody after Moody’s third missed field goal of the game.
But as the Niners returned to the Bay Area on Sunday night and Shanahan began seeing the video of the sideline confrontation in which Samuel is seen shoving Pepper away as the two exchange words with Moody nearby, he had a change of heart.
On Monday, Shanahan said he “didn’t think it was too big of a deal” but he still felt compelled to address what happened.
“I wanted to make sure I did and talked to the guys about it,” Shanahan said. “[I] talked to a number of guys on the team and we squashed it and we’re good.”
The incident in question happened with 3:13 to go in the Niners’ eventual 23-20 victory. After Moody pushed a 44-yard field goal try wide right, Samuel approached him near the sideline. While Samuel said after the game that he was “frustrated” and “got out of character a little bit,” Pepper said Samuel was telling Moody to “lock in.” Pepper took exception to Samuel giving Moody advice in that situation, which led to the argument escalating.
For his part, Moody was nonplussed by the situation after the game, saying “I do have to make those kicks at the end of the day, so that’s all I’m focused on.”
After Shanahan’s conversations with his players on Monday, he didn’t seem to have much of a problem with Samuel’s reaction, likening it to how he talks to players who might be struggling at any point in a game.
“I think it was a little bit [of an] overreaction,” Shanahan said. “You never want Deebo to throw a baby punch or anything on anybody on our own team, but he also wasn’t saying anything bad to Jake. … 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 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. That’s really about where it ended.”
Shanahan said he didn’t plan to fine any of the players involved for the incident, noting that he only fines players for breaking rules. In this case, he said it was just “people being football players” and reiterating that he didn’t feel it was a big deal.
The larger issue might be Moody’s struggles. He was three-of-six on field goal tries in his first game back from a high right ankle sprain Sunday with misses from 44, 49 and 50 yards. Moody entered the game with just one miss in his previous 14 field goal attempts, but Sunday’s failures prevented the Niners from putting the game away earlier than the final seconds.
Moody did, of course, kick the game winner from the exact spot of his third miss, squeezing it just inside the right upright.
On Monday, Shanahan said his view of Moody was “not much different” than where it was after the game.
“I mean, he missed three kicks,” Shanahan said. “I thought it wasn’t the easiest place to kick in. The wind was weird, especially the direction that he missed. It was different but, it was a few big kicks and came back into his first game winner on a walk-off. So, thought he finished it well and move on to next week with it.”
On the injury front, the 49ers mostly made it out of Sunday’s game OK, though Shanahan said tight end George Kittle will have to be monitored this week as he deals with “hamstring irritation.”
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