Did Kyle Shanahan, Brandon Aiyuk Get Into Tiff Ahead Of Patriots Matchup?

Navigating NFL aggregator accounts is a dangerous game, and fans saw an example of that ahead of the 49ers-Patriots matchup.

New England is expected to face trouble against a full-strength San Francisco offense. But there allegedly was some drama Friday when Sports Illustrated’s Grant Cohn posted a 90-second clip of Brandon Aiyuk throwing a “tantrum” after Kyle Shanahan confronted the star wideout over wearing red shorts when it was black shorts day.

Yes, we’re serious. And if you can believe it, the who’s who of aggregator accounts poached the video to get that illustrious engagement.

Shanahan confirmed Aiyuk was wearing the wrong shorts and then sarcastically told reporters, “Good question.” He also joked that he wished he could wear different shorts when asked if what Aiyuk did was a punishable offense.

Why do people care so much? Well, Aiyuk isn’t off to the best start of the season. The 26-year-old caught 11 passes for 119 yards and didn’t catch a touchdown pass through three games. It’s a tough look for a receiver who caused so much drama over the offseason over his contract — something Patriots fans are quite aware of. He signed his $120 million contract and didn’t show much return even with Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle missing games.

While Aiyuk deserves criticism for his play, the shorts incident likely was much ado about nothing, at least according to Kyle Posey of Niners Nation.

“It’s not a tantrum. There’s no argument,” Posey wrote on X in response to Warren Sharp. “Aiyuk is not a diva. He wore the wrong shorts. And Kyle explained why he had to change. This is a big nothing burger that only matters on the internet. I guarantee you they’ve both forgotten about it already.”

It’s probably safe to say Posey is right, especially since Sharp tends to be wrong about his outlandish takes that drive engagement to his social media. It’s a lesson to not take everything an aggregator account posts at face value. But if the Patriots do shut down Aiyuk, you better believe this incident will be brought up.