"It's water under the bridge," Shanahan said.
Of course, it's also a window into how much frustration Samuel is feeling about his recent lack of production. The All-Pro has 97 total yards in his past four games - the least yardage gained in any four-game stretch in his six-season career - and he referenced his monthlong dry spell when he took to social media Monday: "Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!!!!!!!"
Samuel later deleted the post and wasn't expansive when asked Tuesday whether he wanted to elaborate.
"You read what you read," he said. "I was frustrated, for sure."
Shanahan acknowledged that Samuel was triggered by fans who have criticized him during a season in which he has 553 yards on 40 catches and 92 yards on 32 carries while scoring two touchdowns. Samuel earned a three-year, $73.5 million contract extension in 2022 after a breakout season in which he accounted for 1,770 total yards and scored 14 touchdowns.
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"We'd always love for things to stay in-house," Shanahan said. "That's probably why I don't mess with social media. I'm sure I'd get worked up, too, if I was reading stuff about myself all the time. Then I'd maybe make a tweet or something. But is it a distraction in our building? No. We've got to answer questions about it. It's the first time I've talked about it is right here."
Shanahan indicated Samuel had expressed some of his frustrations privately.
"Deebo and I talk every day, so I understand Deebo saying that," Shanahan said. "Deebo wants to help us out, and the only way he helps us out is getting the ball more. And we'd like to get it to him more. And we'll continue to work at that."
Samuel is averaging six touches per game, which isn't far from his average of 6.7 in his first five seasons. He averaged 8.5 in 2021.
"I think he's right," quarterback Brock Purdy said. "He's doing great right now with what we ask of him in the offense and he's not struggling. There's just moments throughout seasons where guys just don't get the ball, just depending on scheme or what the defensive scheme is, and them taking guys away."
Injury report: Running back Isaac Guerendo didn't practice Tuesday and Shanahan said he didn't have an update on the status of his sprained left foot. Shanahan said Monday he was hopeful Guerendo could make enough progress to play Thursday night against the Rams.
In other injury news, pass rusher Nick Bosa (hip, oblique) and left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) remained out of practice after missing the past three games. Pass rusher Yetur Gross-Matos (knee), safety Malik Mustapha (chest, shoulder) and linebackers Dee Winters (knee), Demtrius Flannigan-Fowles (knee) and Dre Greenlaw (Achilles) were limited.
Shanahan declined to commit to Greenlaw making his season debut Thursday against the Rams, but said Greenlaw hadn't had a setback in his recovery.
Desperate talk: Purdy and tight end George Kittle are among those who said the 49ers played with a "desperation" that was a reason for last Sunday's 38-13 romp over the Bears.
So what took so long for the 49ers to channel that emotion? Linebacker Fred Warner said there was desperation in blowout losses at Green Bay and Buffalo that dropped the 49ers to 5-7 before they snapped a three-game losing streak against the Bears.
"I know there's been talk about desperation around the building ever since that game this past Sunday," Warner said. "I haven't talked about it much because I felt like that was already the feeling the last few weeks. It just hadn't really come together like you wanted it to ...
"I don't want it to get lost - like we didn't go out there in Green Bay and we didn't go out in Buffalo saying, 'Oh, let's just hope that we win.' Trust me, I felt desperate as hell going into both of those games. It just didn't work out."
Reach Eric Branch: ebranch@sfchronicle.com; X: @Eric_Branch
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This story was originally published December 10, 2024, 7:07 PM.