The San Francisco 49ers opted to shift Thursday's practice from a full session to a walk-through, and that was decided after Kyle Shanahan spoke with his players. The head coach said that the team would have been willing to cancel the practice in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, had the players wanted to do so.
"If they wanted to not practice today, we definitely would have done that," Shanahan said. "But no one brought that to my attention and I opened it up to all them and that wasn't what they wanted to do."
Shanahan also felt that it was necessary to give his players a break between practices, as Wednesday's practice was intense.
"We're all learning what it's like to go through a training camp starting with 80 players instead of 90," Shanahan said. "And then having to do this without going through preseason games, doing it in less time ... You don't realize how it's going to affect you until you get to these points.
"I planned on doing a little bit of live drills and stuff. I planned on hitting a lot more reps today than we actually did, but you've got to adjust and play it out day to day."
Added Shanahan: "So we made that decision just to walk-through today because we thought that would be best for the team, and it gives us a chance to get the most out of them tomorrow."
Shanahan noted that the 49ers would continue to have discussions on ways to take action and spread awareness of social injustice.
Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times by police on Sunday, sparking further outrage against social injustice. He was shot as he attempted to enter his car, which had his three children inside.
The NBA's Milwaukee Bucks started the sports protests on Wednesday by not taking the court for a playoff game against the Orlando Magic. Several other teams followed. Three baseball games were also postponed as players protested in response to the shooting. That included a Wednesday matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
The 49ers' next practice will be held on the Levi's Stadium field on Friday. That session will be open to the media but fans will obviously not be allowed to attend, as has been the case during training camp.
NFL players are expected to exercise their freedom to protest this season, likely kneeling during the national anthem or doing so in other ways. The 49ers will continue to support the players' rights to protest in an effort to spread awareness.
"I think our ownership has always been very clear that we respect the rights of our players to express themselves how they wish to do so," general manager John Lynch recently said. "I'm really proud of our players — and our staff, for that matter — for the way they've responded, and put into action some of the things, and their feelings."
Wednesday was the four-year anniversary of quarterback Colin Kaepernick first protesting against social injustice and systematic discrimination by deciding not to stand for the national anthem. It's a move NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wishes he ha handled differently at the time.
"I wish we had listened earlier, Kap, to what you were kneeling about and what you were trying to bring attention to," said Goodell. "...It is not about the flag. The message here, and what our players are doing, is being mischaracterized. These are not people who are unpatriotic. They're not disloyal. They're not against our military. In fact, many of those guys were in the military, and they're a military family.
"What they were trying to do was exercise their right to bring attention to something that needs to get fixed. That misrepresentation in who they were and what they were doing was a thing that really gnawed at me."
