HOUSTON — During long stretches of the 49ers’ Dec. 10 win in Houston last season, the depleted Texans seemed to be limited to one offensive focus, receiver DeAndre Hopkins. And for a while it looked like Hopkins would be enough.
He finished with 11 catches, 149 receiving yards and two touchdowns in that contest. He also drew two penalties against former 49ers starting cornerback Dontae Johnson, chasing Johnson from the game in the third quarter.
On Wednesday the 49ers’ young cornerbacks were eager for a chance to test themselves against the veteran receiver, who finished fourth in the NFL in receiving yards last season. Perhaps they were a little too eager.
I was out there just like this here. Watching it all go down 🍿👀 pic.twitter.com/KmvlRrpNhG
— Footwork_King 🤴🏾 (@footwork_king1) August 15, 2018
On the first play of 1-on-1 drills, Jimmie Ward knocked Hopkins’ helmet off his head, triggering a brief, fist-throwing scuffle that ended with both Hopkins and Ward being ejected from practice. It meant that Ward didn’t get to sharpen his skills against Hopkins and that Ahkello Witherspoon, Greg Mabin, Tarvarius Moore and the rest of the 49ers’ fledgling group of cornerbacks didn’t, either.
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“It’s a missed opportunity on a bunch of levels,” defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said after practice. “One, you don’t get to face a guy like Hopkins. … But it’s a trickle-down effect. Now other people need to pick up Jimmie’s reps. I’m sure on their side, receivers had to pick up for Hopkins. It’s something that they’ve got to be aware of. It’s a real thing when you get ejected in a game, it’s a trickle-down effect all the way through.”
Before practice, coach Kyle Shanahan reiterated to his players that, just like in a game, anyone who throws punches in practice will be sent off the field. Ward later was seen doing conditioning work on an adjacent field alongside Richard Sherman and K’Waun Williams, two cornerbacks coming back from injuries.
Ward already had been filling in for Sherman at left cornerback. Mabin, who had been tapped in Houston last year after it was clear that Johnson couldn’t cover Hopkins, filled in and ended up making a nice play later in practice during a Texans’ two-minute drive scenario.
Wednesday’s scrap was a decided departure from the 49ers’ intrasquad sessions this summer, which — aside from a dustup involving rookies Fred Warner and Jeff Wilson in which no punches were thrown — has been fight free.
Instead the team’s locker room is notably happy and close-knit, and practices have been marked by comedy, a routine the offensive linemen call the “Rookie Hype Machine.” It’s involved a rookie offensive lineman performing a belly flop, a rookie defensive back showing off with a front flip and others running into the stands pumping their arms, all in an effort to get the crowds on hand enthused about the team’s practice.
In the 49ers’ final training-camp session in Santa Clara on Monday, first-round draft pick Mike McGlinchey put an exclamation point on the ritual by dancing the Macarena, complete with background music and all the hand movements and hip-swiveling the song brings with it.
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On Wednesday, however, Ward and Hopkins, who is known for his fierce and physical style on the field, were jawing as they approached the line of scrimmage. Ward first staggered Hopkins at the line of scrimmage with a left arm to Hopkins’ shoulder. When the receiver was moving past him — and shoving off with two hands — Ward struck with his right arm, this time knocking off Hopkins’ helmet.
Hopkins caught a short pass and Ward hit him again, setting off the skirmish that had several 49ers, including Sherman, who first put on his helmet, into the fray to pull the combatants apart. Afterward, some of the Texans players joked that Hopkins was calculated in what he said and did because he wanted to get out of practice.
“I know Jimmie,” Saleh said. “Jimmie is such a big competitor and I’m sure he regrets it. But hopefully we get him out there tomorrow and it’ll be, I mean, him and Hopkins ended up shaking hands afterwards, anyway, so it was just the heat of the battle.”
(Top photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
