Have you ever had a long, hard week at work, where curve ball after curve ball is thrown your way, and you just can't catch a break? That is what the 2024 regular season has been for the San Francisco 49ers.
It's been a season of injuries, mishaps, and distractions.
At the start of the year, the 49ers looked poised for another rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs in February. Now, they're on the outside looking in at the NFC playoff picture at 6-7.
What Deebo Samuel did on social media the other day isn't helping limit distractions.
The 49ers' star wide receiver took to social media after rumors of him struggling in a late-season slump. In Sunday's 38-13 dominant win over the Chicago Bears, Samuel caught just two passes for 22 yards and added five rushes for 13 yards.
He would post a tweet that seemed to air his frustrations, only to have a community note remind him of another stat to accompany his issues getting the ball.
"He leads the team in drops. He is struggling," the note stated.
COMMUNITY NOTE JUST ENDED DEEBO SAMUEL CAREER.
???
BODY BAG. pic.twitter.com/swXciQwv7s
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 10, 2024
The news of Samuel's tweet reached 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. David Lombardi for the San Francisco Standard got a comment from the head coach himself, and Shanahan does not believe the matter to be a distraction.
Kyle Shanahan said Deebo Samuel’s posts on X weren’t a distraction to the 49ers and that he and Deebo talk every day: “We’d like to get Deebo the ball more and we’ll continue to work to that.”
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) December 10, 2024
"We'd like to get Deebo the ball more, and we'll continue to work on that," Shanahan told Lombardi.
Deebo Samuel and Kyle Shanahan
(Photo: Chris Unger, Getty)
There will be four more chances to do so, and if the 49ers can win out the rest of the way, maybe more after that. Shanahan leads the 49ers into games against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football this week, followed by games against the Miami Dolphins, conference-leading Detroit Lions, and the Arizona Cardinals in a game that may determine a wild card spot.
It's hard to gauge Shanahan these days; he seems tired. It's been a season of distractions, and a narrative swirling around his team suggests that their Super Bowl window has now closed.
But if Kyle Shanahan says he wants to get the ball into the hands of his star wide receiver more, you best believe he will follow through with it.