This story has been corrected. Read below
San Francisco 49ers interim coach Mike Singletary wanted to get a point across during his first halftime speech Sunday.
His team was down 20-3 and he wanted to illustrate how badly they were playing.
So, a 49ers spokesman confirmed, Singletary dropped his pants. The coach was wearing boxers.
The motivational tool was first reported by Arizona radio station XTRA's Mike Jurecki and The (Santa Rosa, Calif.) Press-Democrat.
"He was just dramatizing how embarrassing it was," 49ers director of public relations Aaron Salkin told The Press Democrat.
According to Salkin, Singletary told the team at halftime: "We're getting our tails whipped out there, now let's get back out there."
Singletary, whose team has a bye week, issued a statement: "I used my pants to illustrate that we were getting our tails whipped on Sunday and how humiliating that should feel for all of us. I needed to do something to dramatize my point; there were other ways I could have done it but I think this got the message across. I am excited about having the team back at practice on Monday so we can get back to work."
Senior NFL writer John Clayton contributed to this story.