ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – The 49ers and Broncos entered their two practices with the mindset that both teams were expected to treat the other as being all part of one team.
The only heated segment of the two days occurred Saturday between the 49ers’ defense and the Broncos' offense.
“It was just two competitive teams going after it,” 49ers safety Tarvarius Moore said.
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Denver wide receiver Brendan Langley and tight end Bug Howard were kicked off the field for throwing punches during a brief skirmish involving 49ers safety Marcell Harris.
“I was told none of our guys threw punches, so when I see the tape we’ll see if they were telling the truth,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
The 49ers’ defense appeared particularly fired up for the two practices, as they set the tone in the first practice session with a dominating performance. The Broncos’ offense made it more of an equal matchup Saturday.
“It all starts with the D-line and the linebackers,” Moore said. “We feed off them on the back end, so when they’re revved up and playing good, and coming out ready to go, first play, we all feed on the defense. It’s a trickle-down effect.”
San Francisco 49ers
Gould for the win
Practice concluded with two end-of-game situations. The 49ers were down by one point. (Denver coach Vic Fangio called it 1-0, while Shanahan preferred 39-38.)
Jimmy Garoppolo hit Jordan Matthews on a pass play in traffic to set up Robbie Gould for a 55-yard field goal attempt. Fangio even called a timeout to try to ice Gould, whose brother, Chris, is the Broncos’ assistant special-teams coach.
Gould nailed the long field-goal attempt with plenty of room to spare to give the 49ers the “win.”
Offensive play of the day
Wide receiver Richie James had a good couple days in the practices against the Broncos. He supplied the big play of the day when Garoppolo found him on an option route for a 30-yard gain.
“I had a choice to keep it vertical or sit down on that route, and I saw the safety way too deep, so I pushed vertical at him, and I sat down and Jimmy threw it over the linebackers,” James said. “It was a dime.”
Defensive plays of the day
The 49ers went without any interceptions on the day, but Harris made a good play down the field when he ripped the ball loose from Howard on a Joe Flacco pass. Howard and Harris would later get in a scuffle, with Howard throwing a punch that got him kicked off the practice field.
Injury report
Running back Matt Breida returned to practice after leaving Friday’s drills after sustaining a shoulder injury during a one-on-one blitz pickup drill.
Guard Mike Person is listed as day-to-day with a left foot strain. Person sustained the injury during practice on Friday, and an X-ray came back negative. He is not expected to play Monday night.
Safety Antone Exum is day-to-day with a minor knee injury sustained in practice Friday.
Tight end George Kittle (calf) did not practice on either of the two days working with the Broncos. Shanahan said Kittle would be available to play if this were the regular season.
Running back Raheem Mostert was cleared off concussion protocol and returned to practice on Saturday.
Other 49ers to sit out practice were: Tight end Levine Toilolo (shoulder), guard Joshua Garnett (finger), wide receiver Trent Taylor (foot), defensive linemen Nick Bosa (ankle), Dee Ford (knee), Ronald Blair (groin), Jullian Taylor (back), D.J. Jones (knee), linebacker Elijah Lee (thumb), cornerbacks Jason Verrett (ankle) and K’Waun Williams (knee) and free safety Jimmie Ward (collarbone).
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This ‘n’ that
-- Former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, Kyle’s father, held a press conference during practice. Earlier this summer, Fangio invited Shanahan, a two-time Super Bowl-winning coach, back to the Broncos facility for the first time since he last coached there in 2008 ...
-- The Broncos' defensive line did a number on the 49ers during one-on-one pass-rush drills. One of the few wins came from left tackle Joe Staley against former 49ers teammate Dekoda Watson after Watson got the better of Staley on the first snap ...
-- Cornerback D.J. Reed broke up a Flacco pass deep down the right sideline intended for Broncos receiver Kelvin McKnight ...
-- The 49ers generated a takeaway when linebacker Fred Warner punched the ball loose from a Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick after a pass completion. Ahkello Witherspoon made the recovery ...
-- Flacco hit Courtland Sutton on a deep ball against Richard Sherman, who mistimed his leap ...
--With center Weston Richberg remaining on PUP and Person out of action, Ben Garland handled the center chores with Daniel Brunskill taking over at right guard.
Next up
Training camp has officially come to an end with Saturday being the final practice that will be open to the media until next year. The 49ers and Broncos will play Monday night in an exhibition game, which will be televised nationally on ESPN.