San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

49ers' Kyle Shanahan tried to stop play where Deebo Samuel suffered injury

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 12/12/22

San Francisco 49ers All-Pro offensive weapon Deebo Samuel would've avoided a potentially-serious injury in Sunday's win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers if coach Kyle Shanahan had any say.

"I was upset because I called a timeout before the play," Shanahan told reporters Monday about the moment in question from Sunday's 35-7 blowout victory, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "So, I was upset that the play got ran, but I wasn't close enough to the ref, so he heard me yell it, but he couldn't confirm that it was me, and so I get his position. I have to talk to him about it, but I was just upset with it because I tried to stop the play."

Samuel suffered what was initially reported to be a high-ankle sprain after he ran the ball up the middle in the second quarter of Sunday's win:

pic.twitter.com/MFyLyquQqB
— highlight heaven (@lowdarkhell) December 11, 2022

The 26-year-old was eventually carted off the field, but Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area noted Monday afternoon that Samuel is expected to return to action before the regular season ends on Jan. 8.

49ers: Deebo Samuel – knee (MCL sprain)/ankle sprain – expected to return at some point during the regular season.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) December 12, 2022

Upon witnessing Sunday's incident, 49ers legend and Hall of Famer Jerry Rice took to Instagram to criticize Shanahan for putting Samuel in danger.

"Please stop running our skill players up the middle," Rice wrote:

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A post shared by Jerry Rice (@jerryrice)

"I thought I did enough to [stop] it, and then obviously what happened on the play made me a lot more sensitive about it," Shanahan added during his comments. "But, I was too far away from him, and he couldn't confirm that it was me, and it was a last-second thing, so I'm not holding a grudge to it or anything. But it was just unfortunate."

Per ESPN stats, Samuel is second among San Francisco players with 54 catches and 612 receiving yards this season. In 12 games, he has contributed a pair of receiving touchdowns to go along with 228 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.

The 9-4 49ers will be without Samuel when they play at the 7-6 Seattle Seahawks this Thursday night.

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