Jim Tomsula: 49ers’ ‘Heated’ Meeting Like ‘An Italian Dining Room Table’

The San Francisco 49ers are one big happy family, according to head coach Jim Tomsula.

Tomsula said Tuesday during his weekly radio appearance on KNBR in San Francisco that he held a “heated” team meeting after the 49ers’ 17-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 4. The defeat dropped San Francisco’s record to 1-3 and Tomsula wanted to check the pulse of his team.

“The biggest thing I said to them was, ‘Guys, it’s like an Italian dining room table,’ ” Tomsula said Tuesday. ” ‘Everybody’s sitting around the table and sometimes it gets heated, dishes get broken, people leave. (But) everybody’s got to come back to the table to eat. And when it’s all said and done, we’re hugging and kissing and we’re eating good food again, OK?’ And I mean that with all due respect.”

Tomsula, who has Italian and Hungarian roots, turned the room over to his players after the meeting, which he also described as “pointed.”

CSNBayArea.com reported Monday that one teammate called out Colin Kaepernick during the tense players-only meeting, prompting another teammate to step up in support of the 49ers quarterback. The individuals involved reportedly cleared up their differences in the days that followed.

“That does happen in this business,” Tomsula said Tuesday. “When you become 2-5, that starts to become headlines. But it was a very productive meeting. It was a meeting where it was truthful and dealt with facts and reality.”

The fact is the 49ers are 2-5 and in last place in the NFC West. A few more losses could break apart even the closest family, regardless of the menu.

Thumbnail photo via Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports Images