"Knock it off" - George Kittle calls out Deebo Samuel's trolls after Commanders WR's route running video goes viral

George Kittle and Deebo Samuel have created a great friendship and respect for each other through their time together as members of the San Francisco 49ers organization. Kittle was selected in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft while Samuel was picked in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Since being selected, both Kittle and Samuel have become stars in the National Football League. Playing together for the past six seasons, the 49ers made it to the Super Bowl on two occasions and have made the NFC Championship game numerous times as well.

However, this offseason, Samuel was traded to the Washington Commanders as part of the 49ers attempt to re-tool after a disappointing 2024 season. After finishing last in the NFC West with a record of 6-11 and a campaign where Samuel had some moments of frustration, San Francisco felt that this was the time to move from the star wide receiver Samuel.

Despite no longer being teammates, Kittle has still come to the defense of Samuel on social media, after the latter was being criticized for his route running skills at Commanders practice earlier this week.

George Kittle defends Deebo Samuel from social media criticism

The popular football fan X profile 'MLFootball' released a video of Samuel running a route at Commanders practice and was clearly being critical of the effort and skill being shown by Samuel in the clip.

"TRENDING: #Commanders wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s route has gone viral.😳😳😳 What do you notice…?" the post was captioned alongside the video in reference.

In response to the post, Kittle came to the defense of Samuel and made clear that it is completely common for players to jog through plays like this one and at this point in the offseason.

"It’s called group install when players jog thru plays. Knock it off." Kittle wrote.

George Kittle

@gkittle46

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It’s called group install when players jog thru plays. Knock it off

As is evident from the social media release by Kittle, he is not going to sit around and watch his former teammate and friend Samuel get criticized by individuals without complete knowledge of the situation going on.

Although Samuel is clearly not running at full speed in the video, it is still June and there is still a long way to go before the 2025 season opens. As a result, it seems quite premature to call out Samuel for his effort in one video clip.