49ers' Samuel, Moody downplay 'emotional' confrontation after missed FGs
Tempers flared on the San Francisco 49ers' sideline during Sunday's 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cameras showed wide receiver Deebo Samuel seemingly shoving and exchanging words with long snapper Taybor Pepper after kicker Jake Moody missed his third field goal of the day with 3:13 left in the fourth quarter and San Francisco leading 20-17.
Pepper intervened when Samuel confronted Moody following the missed kick, leading to the incident and the pair needing to be separated, according to Cam Inman of Bay Area News Group.
The Buccaneers tied the game minutes later.
"I kind of got out of character a little bit, but I talked to Moody, and we'll get past it," Samuel said postgame, according to NBC Sports.
"I wasn't saying nothing crazy to him, I was just kind of frustrated at the time, but he went out there and won the game for us," added the wideout, who caught five passes for 62 yards against Tampa Bay.
Despite missing three field-goal attempts, Moody stepped up when it mattered most, drilling a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give San Francisco a 23-20 victory. He finished the day 3-for-6 on his field-goal attempts.
"I think he had a little dog in him, a little motivation to go out there and make the field goal," Samuel said of Moody's game-winning kick.
Moody - who is in his second NFL season after being drafted in the third round last year - downplayed Sunday's incident with Samuel.
"It's an emotional game," Moody said. "Stuff like that happens all the time. You just move past it. We won, so that's all that matters."
Moody said there hasn't been an apology from Samuel.
"There doesn't need to be," the kicker explained.
"Heat of the moment. It happens. I do gotta make those kicks at the end of the day."