Richard Sherman on 49ers rookie receiver after win over Cardinals: ‘Deebo Samuel is fearless’

Deebo Samuel showed off his toughness as he muscled his way to an impressive 48-yard sideline reception with Arizona Cardinals defenders bringing him down. The San Francisco 49ers' rookie receiver left the game after that play with a shoulder injury, was labeled as "questionable" to return, but did so in the fourth quarter.

Samuel finished the game with a team-leading and career-high 134 receiving yards off of eight catches and 10 targets and was a big reason why the 49ers were able to mount a comeback win, beating the Cardinals 36-26.

And this was after an eight-catch and 112-yard performance during Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks.

One of Samuel's defensive teammates has been impressed with the receiver and what he has been able to do in his first NFL season.

"He's fearless," veteran cornerback Richard Sherman said after the win. "Deebo Samuel is fearless. He'll run through any catch. You get some receivers running across the middle, and they're looking for who's going to hit them. Deebo is looking for who he's going to hit. That's a much different mentality for most people.

"It's almost like you expect him to break the tackle when he catches the football, and it takes a tremendous amount of trust in your quarterback, a tremendous amount of trust in your abilities to be able to play like that because some of the plays, they're drawn up [with] him running into traffic.

"He's running into a safety who's breaking, and it could be a huge hit, and he's not wincing, he's not crunching up. He's running through it, catching the ball, and keeping going. That's a fearlessness that can't be coached and can't be taught. You either have it, or you don't."

Samuel now has 38 receptions for 473 yards with a touchdown through nine games and six starts and is becoming one of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's favorite targets.