Jerry Rice Lashes Out At 49ers Coaches After Deebo Samuel Injury

Jerry Rice has a message for the 49ers: stop sending skill players like Deebo Samuel up the middle.

The San Francisco 49ers put on an absolute clinic against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, that doesn't mean their day went off without a hitch, and the franchise legend was sure to remind everyone of this.

One of the few blemishes in the 49ers' 35-7 annihilation of Tom Brady and the Bucs, was an injury suffered by star wideout Deebo Samuel.

That took a bit of the shine off of San Francisco's day.

Niners legend Jerry Rice quickly reminded the team of the dangers of sending a talent like Samuel right up the gut.

When one of, if not the greatest wide receivers speaks (or in this case, writes) you listen.

Hindsight is 20/20, but Rice has a point that they would've avoided the injury completely had they not had him run such a risky play while up 21-0. Samuel is going to be a key piece if the Niners hope to make a deep playoff run. Especially with a rookie under center — albeit one who impressed on Sunday — like Brock Purdy.

After the game. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that the team believed Samuel had suffered a high-ankle sprain. However, as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported, an MRI will need to confirm this.

If Shanahan is right, that puts Saumel's recovery window right around the start of the playoffs.

They'll certainly be cutting it close.

And to think this could've been avoided if they had listened to Jerry Rice.

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