The trust between Deebo Samuel and Kyle Shanahan was on full display in the 49ers' wild-card win over the Cowboys.
The head coach revealed his wide receiver’s mood and intent following the turnover that gave the offense the ball in the middle of the second quarter. Samuel’s 26-yard run stretched the club’s lead to 16 points helping lock in a matchup with the Packers on Saturday.
“I appreciate that a lot,” Samuel said on Thursday. “It shows the trust that we have in each other. I just think he felt the kind of energy that I was giving him and he was, “All right, let’s see how it goes,” and it ended up being a touchdown.”
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SIGN UP HERE Samuel has the stats to back up his request with 77 receptions for 1405 yards and six touchdowns in the regular season along with 59 carries for 365 yards and an additional eight scores on the ground.
The “wide back” as he calls himself, was a standout in the team’s wild-card match-up with 110 total yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown.
“Deebo is as real of a guy as I’ve been around,” Shanahan said. “He has a passion for this game that is making him one of the best players in this league. And the passion he has when he says that, those words carry a little differently to me than other people’s. And I want him to get him the ball on almost every play.”
While the head coach doesn’t oblige every request, he did share that the 49ers roster does not have players that ask for the ball in a selfish way. Shanahan knows that the suggestions are for the benefit of the team and this time Samuel’s suggestion made an impact.
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“I wasn’t quite thinking about it there,” Shanahan said. “We had a quick turnaround, got a turnover and I was sitting there thinking about what direction to go and I probably would’ve ended up going that direction.
“But when Deebo looks at you and says that, it wasn’t hard to think about it. It was just find a run to Deebo.”
The 49ers will use Samuel in the backfield on Sunday not only for his production but to disguise their plans and confuse the Packers hoping to punch their ticket to the NFC Championship game.
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