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Jerry Rice is not sugarcoating it: If Deebo Samuel wants the ball, then he needs to catch the ball.

In 13 games this season, Samuel has 43 receptions on 71 targets for 569 yards and one touchdown through the air. That’s just 13.2 receiving yards per game — not exactly the numbers the San Francisco 49ers expect from their All-Pro WR1.

Samuel took to social media last week, where he blamed his perceived season struggles on a lack of targets. But he was quickly community noted by X users who pointed out the fact that Samuel leads the team in drops.

READ: Deebo Samuel Stinks It Up On Thursday Night Football as Rams, Niners Serve Up Offensive Struggles

And the criticism only got worse when he dropped the ball on a crucial third-down play in Thursday night’s 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. If he had caught the ball, which was thrown perfectly, he would have likely scored a touchdown or at least brought the Niners into the red zone.

Legendary receiver Jerry Rice joined 95.7 The Game’s “The Morning Roast” on Monday to discuss Samuel’s disappointing season.

“I don’t know what is going on, because the weirdest thing is I think he had like three catches for 16 yards … for me, I would have been pissed,” Rice said. “I would have been pissed at myself, I would have been pissed at the whole scenario, and I would pretty much go to work on the football field, at practice. And if you do it during practice, you’re going to be able to do it during the game.

“That ball that he dropped, after you complain about not getting that many touches, you cannot drop the football. Because everybody is going to get down on you, and they’re going to come after you. I never said anything about not getting touches or anything like that. I just worked, man. I just kept working, and if you show it during practice, they’re going to make the call during the actual football game where you’re going to have opportunities, where you can make catches, get into a rhythm and be productive.”

At 6-8, the 49ers are not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but it would take a miracle to get them in. That’s a hard fall for a team that played in the Super Bowl just 10 months ago.