The 49ers put on the pads for the first time this year during Friday’s practice and things didn’t take long to heat up on the field.
Reporters at the practice noted that running back Christian McCaffrey and linebacker Dre Greenlaw engaged in some post-play shoving after Greenlaw knocked his teammate to the ground after a catch. Linebacker Fred Warner and tight end Jake Tonges then got into it after another play, which led to the involvement of a few other players before things got broken up.
Offensive line coach/assistant head coach Chris Foerster, who is acting as head coach while Kyle Shanahan recovers from his car accident injuries, said after practice that fights are a “waste of time and energy” but that he thinks Friday’s scuffles were just an outgrowth of being in pads for the first time.
“Your first day of pads,” Foerster said. “Everybody’s trying to set the tempo, set the tone. Things happen. Obviously you don’t want it to happen every day, but I don’t think it’s any more than a Day 1 issue.”
Given the injury histories of some of the players involved on Friday, Foerster is unlikely to be the only member of the organization hoping that things are calmer from here on out.