The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans played a joint practice Monday, and it was surprisingly not-so-playful. One player took offense to another player’s use of a racial slur, and the exchange ended with one player being sent to the locker room by the coach.
The Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been practicing together for the first time ever this week ahead of their joint preseason game on Thursday night. It was a first for the Bucs in that they were the ones who took the field first, and the Titans stayed on the turf for the majority of practice.
Two of the NFL’s most intense rivals squared off for the first time since the Buccaneers won a wild-card berth in their own stadium last January. Tampa Bay and Tennessee found themselves embroiled in a heated skirmish during the joint practice when Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans and Titans cornerback Adoree’ Jackson got into an altercation in the middle of the field. “I didn’t like it,” Evans said of the incident. “I got jumped and they was grabbing at my face. It was just some tough love, I guess.”. Read more about tampa bay buccaneers record and let us know what you think.
2:57 p.m. Eastern
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Jenna Laine is a model and actress.
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- For the Baltimore Times, I covered the Ravens.
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ESPNTAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Despite both Bucs coach Bruce Arians and Titans coach Mike Vrabel declaring zero tolerance for fighting before the sessions, tempers rose on Day 2 of joint practices between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans in Tampa, culminating in five altercations that had to be broken up.
“There are a lot of mature guys who are fighting with their emotions. Things take place. All you have to do now is defend your brothers “Inside linebacker Devin White of the Buccaneers stated as much.
Jamel Dean, a cornerback with the Buccaneers, said: “It’s hot outside, the competition is fierce, and we’re simply competitors. We didn’t perform up to our expectations yesterday, so there was a huge focus on getting out there today.”
Several Buccaneers players agreed with Dean, stating the Titans practiced with greater vigor on Wednesday. However, the Buccaneers seemed to have the upper hand on Thursday, with Arians indicating that starters would not play Saturday and that they needed to put in a good effort at practice on Thursday.
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“Today’s energy was considerably greater,” wide receiver Chris Godwin said. “I feel like on the second day of joint sessions in the heat like this, tempers did start to flare, and players were simply competing,” says the coach.
Vrabel stated: “It was a disaster. We didn’t perform very well offensively, according on what I observed. We didn’t compete like we did yesterday, in my opinion. There are probably a number of causes behind this. However, this isn’t good enough. They were clearly better today. On Saturday, we’ll see how we react to instruction and play.”
Early on, the situation became tense.
Bucs wide receiver Antonio Brown complained about being held during a one-on-one matchup with Titans cornerback Chris Jackson. Before Clayton Geathers could intervene, Brown approached Jackson, tearing his helmet off and throwing blows. Louis Murphy, a Buccaneers training camp intern, yanked Brown away from Jackson. Brown left the session for a few minutes to calm off before returning.
Following that, a brawl broke out between Titans wide receiver Fred Brown and Bucs cornerback Herb Miller during a punt period, with Brown coming out on top. Then Bucs inside linebacker K.J. Britt and Titans linebacker Nick Dzubnar had to be separated on another special teams play.
Titans wide receiver Cam Batson and White grappled to the ground on a run play, despite White’s claims that he was just protecting a teammate. As teammates encircled the scrum, Vrabel dashed over to attempt to intercede.
“I was just attempting to assist one of my brothers. I simply saw one of my brothers being thrown about and attempted to assist him — that’s all there is to it “White said. “We’re all tossing and turning in our beds. I’m not sure, it might have been one of our corners, one of our defensive backs, a safety or anything. It happened after a run play. I’m sorry, but I’m not sure. Emotions were running high. You see that your jersey is the same color as two other jerseys that are the opposite color — all you want to do is assist your friend.”
A fifth altercation occurred when defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons got into an altercation with Bucs running back Leonard Fournette, whom Simmons refused to let go of, and Bucs center Ryan Jensen responded.
“That was something the coaches discussed yesterday before we came out here,” Simmons added. “It’s football after all. It’s a competitive environment. There are many men that wish to compete. We’re all vying for employment and [a] place, so that’ll be there. It’s football, one of the most intensely competitive sports on the planet. There will be some folks chipping off, talking trash, or anything else. But no punches or anything like that will be thrown.”
Later that day, Fournette shared a video on his Instagram story in which he referred to Brown as “the heavyweight champ” for their altercation, with the two laughing.
After landing a few punches in today’s joint practice with the Titans, Leonard Fournette labels Antonio Brown “the heavyweight king.” pic.twitter.com/kGY3aqyLDa
August 19, 2021 — JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN)
Despite having a tough position on fighting before the sessions, both coaches downplayed the events on Thursday.
“What about the brawls? There was no fighting that I saw “According to Arians. “There was a lot of shoving and pushing going on. However, I didn’t see any fists.”
It’s conceivable that Arians didn’t see Brown throwing punches since several fields were in use at the same time. But it was captured on video since it occurred during the part of practice when still photography was allowed. When questioned about Brown specifically, Arians replied, “No way. Flies are flapping their wings.”
When asked whether he’d penalize someone if he saw the video and saw fists being thrown or things getting out of hand, Arians shook his head.
Titans veteran guard Rodger Saffold, like Vrabel, downplayed the controversy.
“Our work is putting up football games. Regardless of whether or not there are any sidebars or squabbles, “Vrabel explained. “I understand. It’s sweltering outside. Guys are competing and attempting to complete the task. Those issues arise.”
“Man, I’m too old. ‘Perhaps I’ll get in there,’ I think to myself. But, because it was just 50 yards away, I simply relaxed and rested “Saffold said. “It’s a part of the game, after all. They came out on fire today. We had a fantastic practice the day before yesterday. That’s what you’re looking for. People compete with one another. It’s scorching outside. There’s a lot of pushing going on, but as long as no punches are thrown, we’re OK.”
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