49ers coach Kyle Shanahan puts Deebo-Moody-Pepper squabble to rest

The Deebo Samuel sideline scuffle has been put to bed.

“I talked to a number of guys on the team, we squashed it and now we’re good,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday, the day after Samuel had some words for place kicker Jake Moody after his third missed field goal and ended up taking a swipe at long-snapper Taybor Pepper.

The incident occurred after Samuel said something to Moody, with Pepper stepping in to defend his place kicker. Samuel ended up taking a small swing at Pepper and all parties appeared to have put the incident behind them following a 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The 49ers won when Moody connected on a 44-yard field goal at the gun after the three previous misses.

In the postgame press conference, Shanahan hadn’t seen the exchange and didn’t discuss it with the team on site. That changed once the 49ers got home.

“After the game I didn’t think it was too big of a deal,” Shanahan said. “But after getting home and seeing it on SportsCenter and all that I wanted to make sure I did talk talk to the guys about it.”

Shanahan said he didn’t think the incident rose to the level of an in-house fine.

“I fine people for breaking rules,” Shanahan said. “This is just people being football players and dealing with stuff on the sidelines and I didn’t really chalk that up to a big deal at all.”

Shanahan’s version of events corroborated Samuel’s postgame assertion that he “hadn’t said anything crazy.” Samuel said he was urging Moody to “lock in” after his third missed field goal.

“You never want Deebo to throw a baby punch or whatever to anybody on the team, but Deebo also wasn’t saying anything bad to Jake like it sounded,” Shanahan said. “He was telling him to lock in, the same thing I’ll tell an offensive player who dropped some balls or made some penalties.

“You never sit there and belittle anybody or embarrass anyone. You try to challenge guys you believe in. You tell them to focus because you know they can do this. I like Pep’s attention on it. He’s got his kicker’s back, but I think he kind of interpreted wrong what Deebo was doing and overreacted a little bit. And Deebo didn’t like that and got him out of his face and that’s where it ended.”

Bosa seems OK

Defensive end Nick Bosa said after the game he had been affected by a hip injury that limited his practice time during the week. Bosa didn’t generate his usual pass rush early against Tristin Wirfs and then also against journeyman Justin Skule when Wirfs left with a knee sprain.

“I kind of knew I could push through without it getting too much worse so that’s what I did,” Bosa said. “Will definitely evaluate (Monday).”

Shanahan cited a sack and another late pressure as well defending on two running plays inside the 10 as evidence Bosa was fine.

“He came out all right,” Shanahan said. “I’m sure it’s sore, but any time you miss most of the week of practice, it’s going to affect you.”

Campbell’s rise

Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell endured some rough early games but has played better of late in wins over Dallas and Tampa Bay. He had seven tackles and a pass defensed against Tampa Bay.

“I thought Dallas was his best game of the year and I thought this game was maybe even better,” Shanahan said. “It’s just getting used to our scheme and he gets better and better each week.”

The McCaffrey workload

Shanahan refuted the idea that the 49ers overdid it with running back Christian McCaffrey after getting 19 touches and missing only eight snaps in his debut.

“It was our first game back with him and we didn’t want him to go too many series in a row,” Shanahan said. “We started taking him out, I think we did it in between two series in the first half, and once we only had one drive in the third quarter. We got into that fourth quarter, we weren’t taking him out in the fourth. So, we’ll see how the year goes with it.”

Notable

— Cornerback Charvarius Ward may rejoin the team this week after missing the Tampa Bay game following the death and funeral service for his 23-month-old daughter.

“I think there’s a chance for him to come back this week just talking to him over the weekend. I haven’t got a chance to talk to him today,” Shanahan said.

— Tight end George Kittle has hamstring tightness and will be monitored this week heading into the 49ers’ home game against the Seattle Seahawks.

— Shanahan cited some tricky winds at Raymond James Stadium with regard to Moody’s three missed field goals and reiterated his strong finish with the game-winner.

“He finished it well and we’ll move on to next week with it,” Shanahan said.

— Cornerback Renardo Green has a toe injury and will be day-to-day.

— Shanahan said he doesn’t expect the 21-day practice window to be opened for linebacker Dre Greenlaw this week.

— Cornerback Nick McCloud was signed to the practice squad. McCloud is a four-year veteran of 40 games with Cincinnati (2021) and the New York Giants (2022-24). He was released by the Giants on Nov. 5.

To make room, safety Adrian Amos was released from the practice squad. Amos was signed Oct. 15 and was active for one game as a practice squad elevation.

Snap judgments

— 64: Quarterback Brock Purdy and the entire offensive line didn’t miss a snap in the heat and humidity of Tampa.

— 61: Safety Malik Mustapha came in with a calf strain but was one of five defenders who played every snap along with Ji’Ayir Brown, Fred Warner, Deommodore Lenoir and De’Vondre Campbell.

— 58: Jauan Jennings (7 receptions, 93 yards) played more than any skill position player in his debut as a full-time ‘X’ receiver.

— 56: McCaffrey reprises his iron-man role after three padded practices with no game action since last Feb. 11.

— 52: Bosa, playing with a hip injury, was invisible for long stretches until a late sack and pressure.

— 48: With Ward on bereavement leave, Green had his second-highest snap count of the season and had five tackles, two passes defensed an an 82.6 Pro Football Focus grade that was the highest on the team.

— 36: After getting a sack and two pressures against Dallas in 29 snaps, defensive end Sam Okuayinonu was blanked in both departments pursuing Baker Mayfield against the Bucs while playing six more snaps.

— 13: On 10 of Moody’s special teams snaps, he did not miss a field-goal attempt.

— 12: Veteran corner Rock Ya-Sin, who has played exclusively special teams, got his first defensive snaps of the season and a made a play that forced Tampa Bay to kick a field goal in the red zone to tie the game 20-20.

— 10: Wide receiver Ronnie Bell had seven more snaps than rookie Jacob Cowing (3).

— 6: How many snaps Jordan Mason (3) and Isaac Guerendo (3) played on offense in McCaffrey’s return to game action.