On Sunday, 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel confronted teammate Jake Moody on the sideline after the kicker missed his third field goal. Long snapper Tabor Pepper came to Moody’s defense, prompting Samuel to grab Pepper by the neck.
The teammate-on-teammate offense was broadcast on national television, and with 3:09 left in the game, it looked like the 49ers were going to collapse.
“He told him this.” confineand we know what our job is and got us. It’s hard being a specialist and sometimes there’s feast and sometimes famine,” Pepper said in a video from NBC Sports Bay Area.
Samuel said he was frustrated that Moody couldn’t finish the game with a 44-yard kick with 3:09 left. Moody missed runs of 49 and 50 yards and was 2-for-5 in his return game from a high ankle sprain.
“I don’t usually think about that, but I’m just annoyed in the middle of a battle. You know, it was a really close fight, so it was a little bit out of character,” Samuel said. “I’ll talk to Moody and we can get through this.”
Moody, returning from a high ankle sprain, scored the game-winning 44-yard score on the final play as the 49ers defeated the Bucs 23-20.
“I think he had a little dog in his heart and a little bit of motivation to go out and score field goals,” Samuel said. “I was talking to him, and at first I wasn’t giving him any brunt, I was kind of annoyed at the time, but he went out there and won the game, so , I didn’t care about that. So we’ll get through it.”
Everything was fine after the win, as Moody said he didn’t need an apology from Samuel.
