Is Kyle Shanahan looking for reasons to yell at 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk?

Kyle Shanahan and Brandon Aiyuk don't seem to have the strongest relationship.

Shanahan is a control freak and Aiyuk seems to have issues with authority, so they make an awkward pair. And it seems like their relationship has never recovered since Shanahan put Aiyuk in his proverbial doghouse in 2021.

All of the 49ers' playmakers except Aiyuk seem to value Shanahan. Aiyuk is the only one who acts like Shanahan held him back and made him look bad.

And so Aiyuk made Shanahan look bad this offseason. He was detained to avoid fines, but still refused to practice. Every now and then he would show up on the practice field just to grab the spotlight and show everyone that he was above the rules and privileged.

Cut to last Friday. Aiyuk had a disappointing performance in Los Angeles when he was open for a possible long pass in the fourth quarter, but Brock Purdy didn't throw him the ball. That's why Aiyuk appeared on Friday in the wrong shorts – a violation of the dress code. Aiyuk knows the rules. He still broke it.

Perhaps Shanahan hasn't enforced this rule in the past. But on Friday he went out of his way to scream at Aiyuk for two minutes in front of the team and media. Shanahan seemed to want people to see him put Aiyuk in his place.

And when I asked Shanahan after practice if Aiyuk had worn the wrong shorts, Shanahan smiled and said, “Good question.”

Something tells me the Cold War between these two has just begun.

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