SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans didn't take long to get on each other's nerves at a joint practice.
A scuffle broke following the first play of 11-on-11 drills on Tuesday with the physical play and animosity only amping up from there.
“The energy was hot from the first play,” Titans rookie receiver Carnell Tate said.
Tate was on the receiving end of that early on when San Francisco cornerback Renardo Green threw
him to the ground following a catch near the sideline, prompting players on both teams to rush together and exchange words and shoves.
That was one of several scuffles that broke out in the first 10 minutes of team drills at the joint practice, leading to four players eventually getting kicked out of the practice for throwing punches.
Tennessee offensive linemen Austin Deculus and Dan Moore Jr. both got kicked out of practice for throwing punches. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan, who was mostly watching his offense on the other field, said he was told two of his defensive players also got kicked out.
“We’re not trying to fight and do all this other stuff,” Niners linebacker Fred Warner said. “We’re trying to play football and that’s what I had to try and tell the guys early on. I brought everybody together and told them like, ’We’re not going to get through today if we continue on this path. We got to play football.′ I think we kind of found our groove a little bit after some of that fiery business going on in the beginning."
Most of the issues came on the field where the 49ers defense was facing the Titans offense. San Francisco defenders took Tennessee players to the ground on at least a few occasions, leading to the physical play.
After the early sparks, tempers calmed down later in practice and both teams were able to get in the work they wanted.
“It's part of a joint practice,” said Tennessee linebacker Cedric Gray, who noticed one big pileup on the other field. “You got to love it. I think we all just wanted to come out here, be a little feisty. ... It was just good to get out here and kind of have that and just create those dog moments and those team fighting moments.”
Shanahan and Titans head coach Robert Saleh spent most of the practice watching the Niners offense going against the Titans defense, letting their coordinators handle the other field. Saleh enjoyed being back in the Bay Area after spending last season in his second stint as defensive coordinator for San Francisco. He had previously held that job from 2017-20 in Shanahan's first four seasons as head coach.
The two friends spent a portion of practice side by side behind the Tennessee secondary.
“It's good to pick his brain,” Saleh said. "Looking forward to talking to him tonight after we both watch the tape just to see what he sees. He’s always been, a mentor in that regard. He's an elite teacher and I'm all ears when he starts talking."
Saleh said the Titans will give most of their starters some playing time Thursday night while the 49ers will use mostly reserves.
Saleh said he would like all four quarterbacks to get some time if possible but wasn't sure how long the starters will get.
“I don’t want to put a number on it, but it’s not just a series,” he said.
The Niners will go mostly with backups. Quarterback Brock Purdy played in just one preseason game last summer and two in 2024. He and the other starters could get some game action in one of the final two exhibition games.
Stars Nick Bosa and Christian McCaffrey remain out for the 49ers with what are believed to be minor injuries.
Bosa has missed more than a week with soreness and tendinitis in his surgically repaired right knee.
“It’s a pretty normal thing with ACLs,” Shanahan said. “Just talking to our guys, they say it happens about 90% of the guys we’ve had. So it’s a normal thing, so we got to be smart here know week to week. But no concerns about it being any more than that.”
McCaffrey has been sidelined this week with what the team has called “tightness.” Shanahan said it's mostly a precaution to prevent something more significant.
“Christian’s a guy who needs to get prepared for Week 1, but also we’re pretty confident what he’s done before this and we’re confident with what he’s done in these two weeks,” Shanahan said. “We just want to make sure that we don’t make it something to be concerned about.”
The 49ers did get some good news on the injury front with receiver Mike Evans returning after missing about a week with a strained quadriceps. Evans mostly worked on individual drills.
Saleh said that DL John Franklin-Myers (lower back) and DT Jackie Marshall (oblique) could return next week.
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