But when the Niners returned to the Bay Area on Sunday night and Shanahan began watching the video of the sideline confrontation in which Samuel is seen shoving Pepper as the two exchange words with Moody nearby, he changed his mind. .
On Monday, Shanahan said he “didn’t think it was too big of an issue” but still felt compelled to address what happened.
“I wanted to make sure I did it and talk to the guys about it,” Shanahan said. “[I] “I talked to several guys on the team and we solved it and we’re fine.”
The incident in question occurred with 3:13 left in the Niners’ eventual 23-20 victory. After Moody pushed a 44-yard field goal attempt to the right, Samuel approached him near the sideline. While Samuel said after the game that he was “frustrated” and “went out of character a little bit,” Pepper said Samuel was telling Moody to “lock himself in.” Pepper objected to Samuel giving Moody advice in that situation, which led to the argument escalating.
For his part, Moody was taken aback by the situation after the game, saying, “I’ve got 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, comparing it to the way he talks to players who might be struggling at any point in the game.
“I think it was a little [of an] “An overreaction,” Shanahan said. “You never want Deebo to throw a punch or anything at anyone on our own team, but he wasn’t saying anything bad to Jake either. … You never sit there and belittle anyone or try to embarrass anyone. You try to challenge guys. that you believe in. That’s how we talk to each other and tell someone that they need to focus and focus because we know you can do it.
“I like Pep’s intentions. I mean, he’s got his kicker on his back, but I think he misread what Deebo was doing to him and he overreacted a little bit and Deebo didn’t like that and shoved him out of his sight. That’s it. That’s really where it ended.”
Shanahan said he did not plan to fine any of the players involved for the incident, noting that he only fines players for violating the rules. In this case, he said it was just “people being football players” and reiterated that he didn’t feel it was a big deal.
The biggest issue might be Moody’s problems. He made three of six field goal attempts in his first game back from a sprained right ankle on Sunday with misses of 44, 49 and 50 yards. Moody entered the game with just one miss in his previous 14 field goal attempts, but Sunday’s misses prevented the Niners from putting the game away before the final seconds.
Moody, of course, kicked 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 “wasn’t much different” than what he had after the game.
“I mean, he missed three kicks,” Shanahan said. “I thought it wasn’t the easiest place to kick. The wind was strange, especially the direction he missed. It was different, but it was some big kicks and he got back to his first winning game in an outing. So I thought he finished well and what would happen next week.”
On the injury front, the 49ers mostly came out of Sunday’s game well, although Shanahan said tight end George Kittle will have to be monitored this week as he deals with a “hamstring irritation.”
