Samuel and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said they always talk about using the wideout. Shanahan said he would prefer to have these discussions internally, but understands where Samuel is coming from.

“Deebo and I talk every day. I understand Deebo saying that,” Shanahan said via the team’s official transcript. “Deebo wants to help us and the only way he can help us is by getting the ball more. We would like to bring him more and we will continue to work on that. …

“We would always love for things to stay in-house. That’s probably why I don’t bother with social media. I’m sure I’d get upset and stuff too if I read stuff about myself all the time. And then maybe I would do a tweet or something. I mean, is it a distraction in our building? No. I have to answer questions, it’s the first time I’ve talked about it here I see us every day and talk about it So my advice is that you don’t let the outside frustrate you because just answering these things usually will in no way harm our team, it’s water under the bridge.

The Niners’ 2024 season will be under the bridge if they don’t beat the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.