San Francisco 49ers' Kyle Shanahan draws line on toughness after players throw punches in practice

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After halting practice for a second time because of a brawl on Tuesday, coach Kyle Shanahan called for his team to huddle up.

He promptly delivered some choice words about what had just transpired. Underneath the anger was a simple message about how Shanahan wants his team to play.

Physical? Absolutely. Tough? Of course. Irritating? Sure.

But Shanahan wants the Niners to draw the line at throwing punches, which happened twice in that Tuesday practice — namely between star middle linebacker Fred Warner and receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

«I want everyone challenging each other,» Shanahan said on Friday. «I don't care how much crap each other talks; I don't care how close they get to fighting. They can do whatever they want to get themselves to be as intense as they want and bring the best out of each other which happens a lot that way. And it's the same on the field.

»But once you throw a punch, you get ejected or you get a penalty and we pride ourselves on, I want people to be irritants, I want people to get as close as they can to all that stuff. I want people to get right on the line where they're about to black out but you can't black out on the football field or you cost your team."

The problem this week for Shanahan's team was that it happened on the practice field among teammates. It was the warmest day of this camp and a longer, fully padded session which multiple players pointed out were contributing factors to the situation. And while fights are a common scene at every training camp, this one happened between two players expected to play significant roles this season.

The biggest fight — between Warner and Aiyuk — began when a late hit by Warner landed receiver Marcus Johnson in the concussion