Having abandoned its claim to be epistemology, RTP doesn't need to say anything like that now. Well, that depends on what 'direct' means, and I fear it hasn't been given a sense in the present context. But there really isn't any reason to suppose that. I can step on your toe, even though both of our shoes mediate the transaction. Likewise, I often talk to my wife on the phone.
Any number can play the ordinary language game, but nobody ever wins.
Putnam is one of our best philosophers, and he is terrifyingly smart. In fact, it's a skirmish in a much larger battle. The fundamental issue isn't direct perception or even mental representation. It's whether meaning is a 'natural kind'. There are, as usual, two sorts of philosophers.