That theme continued during yesterday's scrimmage in which the play on the field quickly became overshadowed by a sideline melee involving Davis and 13-year veteran Larry Allen.

The incident occurred after a drive by the first-team offense fizzled in the red zone. During the drive, Davis caught a short pass from quarterback Alex Smith and then, with 3,000 fans looking on, raised his arms for their applause. A few plays later, however, Smith's pass to running back Maurice Hicks fell incomplete and the offense began walking off the field.

Seconds later, Davis and Allen were being pulled apart by coaches and teammates. Several players, including Bryant Young and Jonas Jennings, forcibly walked Davis to an adjacent practice field and then stood by him while he cooled down. On the sideline, meanwhile, team chaplain Earl Smith mollified Allen.

Players and coaches downplayed the fracas.

"It was nothing just part of the game," said Young. "It's not a big deal. I've gotten into a couple over the years."

Coach Mike Nolan said that while he didn't want to see anyone get hurt in a fight, he liked to see passion from his players.

"They were disappointed (in not scoring), and so when they were trying to motivate each other, some of them take motivation a different way," Nolan explained. "I think somebody didn't like getting called out. The thing that I like about it is that it has to be important to you to fight about something. So you take the good with the bad."

Nolan had a similar response last week when asked about Davis' habit of jawing with defensive players during practice. Nolan said he had no problem with practice-field bravado as long as the player delivers on the field.

The second-year tight end has been one of Smith's favorite targets throughout the spring and summer practice sessions, and his combination of size and speed has made him nearly impossible to cover in the open field.

On Saturday, Smith threw a 19-yard dart to Davis in the back of the end zone, which Davis celebrated by tossing the ball into the end zone bleachers again to the delight of the fans.

Davis was not nearly as animated as rookie, but his antics got him into occasional trouble.

After his first NFL touchdown during a preseason game, Davis drew a warning from Nolan about his end-zone celebration raising his arms to the ceiling of Texas Stadium just as then 49ers receiver Terrell Owens did in 2000.