Fooch’s update: Jimmie Ward got some sideline work after the fight with DeAndre Hopkins, but was officially removed from team drills, per defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Ward and Hopkins will be back at practice on Thursday.
Shanahan on the fight: “It’s a missed opportunity for both team to miss having guys of that caliber on field.”
O’Brien on the fight: “Ridiculous. We gotta move on from that quick.”
The San Francisco 49ers have avoided significant practice fights through the the first three weeks of training camp, but their joint practice with the Houston Texans changed that. Cornerback Jimmie Ward and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins got into it after Ward knocked off Hopkins’ helmet during a jam in coverage. Cam Inman reported the two players shook hands as they left the field, and that Ward is actually back practicing.
.@DeAndreHopkins and @49ers DB Jimmie Ward throw punches at @HoustonTexans training camp. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/I0Xw12g20Z
— Alex Radow (@alexradow) August 15, 2018
First play with Texans receivers vs 49ers secondary, @DeAndreHopkins gets into a scrap! pic.twitter.com/lTrpuq6ZJe
— SportsTalk 790 (@SportsTalk790) August 15, 2018
Texans head coach Bill O’Brien said on Tuesday that he and Kyle Shanahan agreed that anything that would get a player ejected from a game would get them ejected from practice. Scuffles are not always fully clear when it comes to ejections, but this kind of brawl would have likely resulted in a game ejection. I’m curious if the two coaches decided one player was more responsible for it than the other.
Considering it happened on the first rep of practice, that’s certainly something.