J.J. Watt weighs in after Deebo Samuel's fiery exchange with 49ers teammate
San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel was upset with kicker Jake Moody's misses in the team's Week 10 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and let him know about it. However, long snapper Taybor Pepper took issue with Samuel scolding a fellow teammate. That in turn, angered Samuel more and he ended up grabbing Pepper's throat with Moody having to step in to prevent further escalation.
This was not a good look on the 49ers, who went on to win the game against the Buccanneers. In the latest episode of the Pat McAfee Show, former NFL star J.J. Watt weighed in on the situation.
Even though Watt was all for captains holding teammates accountable for their performance, he didn't really think Samuel had to go out of his way to chide Moody for his performance.
"I do think that kickers have an insanely tough job, and it is extremely clear if they accomplished or did not accomplish their job. So I don't think they necessarily need too many other people to be like, 'Hey, man, do your job'."
Later in the conversation, Watt added special team players were like the glue that held the whole team together.
Pat McAfee chimed in and said that the scuffle between Samuel and Pepper was actually a reflection of the Niners' locker room. Whether this incident will lead to a rift in the relationship between the two players is yet to be seen.
Kyle Shanahan sides with Samuel in throat-grabbing incident
When Niners coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the incident, he said Pepper overreacted to Samuel scolding Moody for his performance.
"I think it was a little bit overreaction, and I don't think you never want Deebo to throw a baby punch or anything on anybody on our own team, but Deebo also wasn't saying anything bad to Jake, like it sounded."
Watt commented on the irony of the situation that the player who got his throat grabbed by Samuel was the one being called out for having an "overreaction".
McAfee said it indicated that long snappers like Pepper are low on the totem pole, while receivers like Samuel are higher up.