One day after taking to social media and attributing his downturn in production to a lack of opportunities, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel stood by his assertion Tuesday, Nick Wagoner of ESPN reports.

On Monday afternoon, Samuel wrote on X, "Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!" He later deleted the post and added a separate one that said he was "not hating on any of my teammates."

With the Niners preparing for the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night, Samuel was asked if he wanted to offer any further clarification on his posts.

"You read what you read," Samuel said. "[I'm] a little frustrated for sure."

Samuel's frustration stems from a lack of production the likes of which he hasn't had since early in his rookie season. Over the past four games, Samuel has 97 yards from scrimmage on 17 touches, an average of 5.7 yards per touch. Samuel hasn't exceeded 35 yards from scrimmage in any of those four contests, finishing with 21, 21, 20 and 35 against Seattle, Green Bay, Buffalo and Chicago, respectively.

It's the first time Samuel has failed to have at least 50 yards from scrimmage in four straight games since a five-game stretch in 2019. Even amid that 2019 stretch -- from Week 3 through 9, including the bye -- Samuel still had games of 44, 48 and 40 yards from scrimmage.

On Tuesday, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said that while he would prefer Samuel keeps such complaints in-house, he and Samuel talk every day and those conversations often include his usage in games.

"I understand Deebo saying that," Shanahan said. "Deebo wants to help us out, and the only way he helps us out is getting the ball more. We'd like to get it to him more.

"Is it a distraction in our building? No. ... My advice is to not let the outside frustrate you because just answering those things isn't going to help you in any way. It usually only hurts you. But as far as what we deal with and our relationships and our team, it's water under the bridge."

Samuel's ineffectiveness as a runner has also limited his versatility, as he's mustering just 2.9 yards per carry. The element of using Samuel as a curveball in the backfield seems to have long since vanished.

"They're not surprised no more," Samuel said. "We've been doing it for almost three years now, so it's kind of you got a 50/50 chance, whether I'm in the backfield getting a handoff or end around or anything along those lines."

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