Sunday will mark four weeks since the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII, and 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel acknowledged it’s not been easy to turn the page.

It was the second time Samuel and the 49ers had lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in the past five seasons.

Samuel was on the “Up & Adams” show and talked with host Kay Adams about losing to the Chiefs. After initially putting on a brave face, Samuel admitted the defeat was tough on him.

“I kind of put it behind me. About to get back in the lab here in a week, about to take my son to Disney World and, after that, get back in the lab,” Samuel said. “But I mean, two in five years, like that is pretty rough. You know, being right there in the two that we’ve been in and just falling short, it’s just so heartbreaking man.

“But, I mean, at the end of the day, you’ve got to move on, and it’s the next year and we’re just going to continue to grind and do what we set out to do.”

Adams asked how Samuel would try to move on from the loss.

“It’s kind of hard because all we know is like, basically our job is football,” he said. “So it’s just like, all right, lets use this motivation when you get back in the lab just to put yourself in a position and try to do your best to get back. Because people just say there’s always a next year, but I heard that in 2019 and it took four more years to get where we were at.

“It’s not that easy as people think to get to the Super Bowl, and it takes everything. It takes me, the coaches, the people upstairs and bring people in to help and for everything just to play (it) out right. It’s just like not gonna snap your hands and be back in the Super Bowl again. It’s harder than people think.”

Samuel had suffered a shoulder injury during a playoff win over the Packers. Then came a hamstring injury in the Super Bowl. He spoke on that and how well the 49ers defense played in the Super Bowl.

In the end, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was too much to overcome, Samuel said.

“It’s just so much. Like, you know, dealing with a shoulder. Then in the second half, I pulled my hamstring so I’m just like, bro, not right now. Please, not right now,” Samuel said. “And then was still able to go out there and try to help the team.

“But we just fell short and they’ve got the great Patrick Mahomes on the other side, so you know he’s capable of anything. And, you know, our defense was playing well all game long. They played well all game long. It was just Pat Mahomes being Pat Mahomes, man.”

This story was originally published March 8, 2024, 12:04 PM.